Mystery
by Ketsui Tasogare
Summary: Tenten, Neji, Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Hinata and Naruto are all agents from the intelligence agency FIRE. When a celebration is thrown for Hinata, a body and a threatening note spoil the events of the evening. Now the eight agents need to figure out exactly who did it and why with few leads to go on. But the recent murder was committed out of revenge from over a decade ago
1. Chapter 1

**Mystery**

A Nejiten fanfiction

Tenten, Neji, Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Hinata and Naruto are all agents from the intelligence agency FIRE. When a celebration is thrown for Hinata, a body and a threatening note spoil the events of the evening. Now the eight agents need to figure out exactly who did it and why with few leads to go on. But the recent murder was committed out of revenge from a certain person holding onto a grudge from more than a decade ago.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.

 _Chapter 1: Incident_

Tenten adjusted her mask before she made her way up the marble steps to the large wooden doors of the Hyuuga manor. Tonight was Hinata's graduation party; she passed her final test and was officially a member of the intelligence agency FIRE. The theme for the evening had been masquerade-a rather fitting theme for a group of agents whose primary existence depended on masks and secrecy.

She took a deep breath and walked in. She was overwhelmed with the sound of loud music coming from inside. Her eyes were greeted with exquisite decorations and throngs of people all in their best formal wear. Tenten had arrived just in time to see Hinata descend the stairs, she truly looked like an angel—she wore a pastel blue strapless sweetheart cut dress with silver embellishments on either side of the bodice. The top of the dress until her mid-thigh was fitted and smooth like a thick layer of icing on a wedding cake. From the thigh downwards her dress continued A-line and was chiffon. Her hair was in a long slick ponytail and her mask was silver with white Swarovski crystals around her eyes. She recognised her friend and went to greet her immediately.

"Tenten, you're here. You look amazing" she said as she hugged her

"Thanks Hinata, but I think you've out done me, you look phenomenal. And I'm pretty sure Naruto will be here any second to tell you that himself." She smirked when Hinata blushed

"Damn Tenten who did you dress to impress?" came Ino as she walked up from behind Hinata wearing a white long sleeved lace and silk dress. The lace started from her arms and continued until her chest. From her chest downwards the dress was a silk pipe dress. She wore her hair in a single long braid with plum lipstick. Her mask was a navy eye mask outlined in gold with a black feather on the left side.

Ino wasn't wrong, Tenten did look great. She wore a mermaid cut, fitted black dress with ruching over her chest that spilled over her shoulders and hung over her back leaving it revealed. Her hair was done in a messy top bun. Her mask was a white eye mask with black pearls outlining it, accompanied by crimson lipstick.

"I see you went backless, very functional for you" Ino coyly stated

"What do you mean?" Tenten asked quite fearful of what her friend might say next

"It's conveniently backless; it makes the dress easy to get out of. You know, in case you and a certain tall and handsome Hyuuga decide to—

"Ino, could you for once not make a sexual remark about Neji and me?!" she cut Ino off blushing furiously

"And speak of the devil" said Ino as she pointed behind Tenten and indicated that Neji was coming in their direction. Tenten turned around to see that Neji was indeed on his way over. He stopped right in front of her dressed in a grey suit with a white shirt and a black waist-coat over it and grey skinny tie—looking sharp as ever, she said in her head.

"The word gorgeous doesn't even compare to how you look tonight" he complimented her before he took her hand and kissed it

"Thank you, you look pretty handsome yourself Neji" she blushed when she felt his lips against her skin

"Would you care to dance?" he asked and held out his hand

"I'd love to" she took his hand and followed him to the dance floor

She placed her left arm on his shoulder and took his hand; while he confidently put his right arm on her waist and took her hand. They glided across the dance floor with ease and expertise; they both knew what they were doing.

"I hope your time off hasn't deteriorated your sharpness as an agent" Neji started as he led her in the dance.

"Not at all, I'm as sharp as ever" she cheekily replied

"Alright then let's put it to the test" he smirked "You see the couple behind us?" he asked

"The one that just walked off the dance floor now? Yeah what about them?" she asked as he twirled her

"Without looking, tell me where they're going"

" _Hmm…a social observation test, child's play"_ she said in her head. She gathered her thoughts before she answered his question

"Well based on how closely they were dancing just before they left, everything they did on the dance floor was a build up to where they're going now. When you and I got here, the guy—let's just call him X for now—had his arms around her waist. While I had my back to them X's girlfriend—her name will be A—moaned in pleasure but it was slightly muffled which means that X had leaned in to kiss her for no more than three seconds. Then when you dipped me, I saw that A had her left leg on X's waist and her arms wrapped around his neck. A few seconds later a giggle escaped her lips, and when I was back up and looked in their direction, X was whispering in her ear—probably gave her the idea that led to their departure. So I can only conclude that they've gone upstairs to find an empty room to continue their little lovers' game" she finished with confidence.

"I'm impressed, you were able to read that from a couple you barely saw" he said as he dipped her again and slipped his hand under her leg and held it over his waist before bringing her up slowly, keeping his hand where it was.

"I told you I'm still at the top of my game. And how did you know that my dress had a slit, it was hidden to conceal my leg holster" she raised an eyebrow at him all while trying to keep her composure due to the fact that Neji's hand was currently resting on her left thigh

"Only eyes as well trained as mine could have noticed" he cockily replied with a smirk on his face. She just rolled her eyes at him

Xxx

Tenten stood by the crystal clear large swimming pool, looking down at her reflection. She decided to get some air by herself. Things were getting a little wild at the party, with multiple shots being taken at the bar; a lot of her colleagues' tongues were getting looser each minute. She'd unbuttoned the left section of her dress revealing her left leg with a holster around her thigh and took out her cellphone. The bright light emitting from the smartphone brightened her face and caused her to squint slightly. She stared at her screensaver for a long time with a smile on her face.

It was a picture of Neji and Sasuke together—one of the few times they ever did anything together but when they did magic happened. It was a picture from when she, Sakura and the two guys went out for dinner together—undercover for a mission. Sakura and Tenten had to play the roles of supermodels out for dinner with their dates while they were following a suspicious group. To make things more genuine the four of them took pictures together and the one Tenten captured was of Neji and Sasuke casually leaning against the wall of the restaurant with their left legs against the wall and their arms folded. Both of them were smirking with a raised eyebrow—the arrogant face that they were so good at pulling. It was a brilliant picture.

"You've still got that picture on your phone, I see" he said as he walked up behind her and stood with his chest against her back.

"It's my favourite picture, of my two favourite guys" she replied then put her phone back in her holster. Sasuke shifted slightly and placed his hand over hers on her leg, Tenten was slightly shocked but then relaxed when she realised why Sasuke did what he did…they were being watched.

Tenten slowly turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up into his eyes. Their eyes locked on to each other's and they confirmed with each other. They couldn't allow whoever was watching them to know that they knew he or she was there, so they had to act like they were still busy with each other like they had been a few minutes ago. They also couldn't risk leaving or this person could figure out that they knew they were there. Tenten and Sasuke needed to know what this person wanted and why this person didn't want to be seen so they needed to make sure this person was as low guarded as possible.

"So I'm one of your favourites huh?" he leaned in

"Of course you are, especially right now" she said in a low voice

"Oh and why is that?" he lowly spoke as well

"For a number of reasons, like your strong arms around me; our bodies are so close and not to mention that you look absolutely irresistible in this suit" she said with a cheeky smile and played with his tie

"Well I definitely think we both dressed great tonight. For instance, the great thing about your dress is that I can do this…" he ran his index finger down her spine making her shudder in delight.

"And you know what I love most about this dress, it comes off very easily" she smirked

"Is that a fact?" he smirked back and leaned in incredibly close until their lips were barely a centimetre apart

"Yeah, all you have to do is slide it off" she said slowly

"Oh then are you suggesting…"

"Maybe I am…but before that comes this…" she leaned in and kissed him gently at first then deepened the kiss. He held her tightly against his body and kissed back. The atmosphere around them was intoxicating and very heated, they were flirting to distract the person watching them that much was true but there was a lot of truth in the things they said and did that wasn't just an act—and they both knew it.

Sasuke lifted her left leg and placed it on his waist then he slid his hand down her leg and removed the pistol in her leg holster in a single movement with such ease. Any person would have thought that he was just lost in the heat of the moment but he was a trained agent and knew how to make things look differently to how they appeared. As the kiss continued Tenten opened her left eye and looked for the person watching them. She saw a silhouette walk away from them.

She broke the kiss but kept her face very close to Sasuke's

"He's still within earshot, he's about to go around the house towards the entrance. Don't lose my pistol, I'll stay in contact from inside." she whispered

She pulled away from him but remained in character

"Meet me upstairs in ten minutes" she winked at him then walked towards the sliding door to go back inside the house. She looked like she was tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear but she was actually putting in an ear-com.

Tenten was on the top floor balcony looking at the large property the Hyuuga owned when she was joined by someone.

"Any sign of our mysterious friend?" she turned to face Sasuke

"No, he's probably hidden himself in the crowd by now. At least-whoever this is-doesn't know that were on to them so for now we'll just have to keep our eyes open." He replied as he walked to the rails and stood next to Tenten.

"And the reason they don't know is because of that act we pulled down there" she smiled cheekily at him

"But I wonder if it was all an act" he smirked

"I wonder indeed, you won't get any answers from me that easily Uchiha. You'll just have to figure out on your own if I was acting or not" she pecked him on the cheek then walked to the door but Sasuke grabbed her wrist.

Before she even knew what was happening Sasuke kissed her. She was a little shocked at first but then she relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of him kissing her. And after a while she kissed him back.

The two of them returned to the party with their friends. By midnight only a small number of guests remained. The group of friends were getting ready to take a photo together.

"I'll be right back with my camera" said Hinata as she ascended the stairs to her room. A few seconds later, a blood curdling scream pierced through the music causing it to stop.

"Hinata!" they all panicked and ran up upstairs to her room

Ino walked in first followed by the others, she saw a devastated Hinata in the corner of the room by her closet. Everyone froze—Tenten's blood ran cold through her veins when she finally saw what had petrified Hinata—it was Lee's lifeless body in a pool of blood…he'd been stabbed multiple times. His arms were over his chest, keeping something in place, a note.

Neji retrieved the note and walked over to Tenten as the note addressed the both of them: _"I'm an enemy from your past, during your squad days with Guy sensei as the captain. I miss those days, you were all so inexperienced but now things have changed…now I'm coming for you"_

Tenten's heart beat a little faster in her chest when she finished reading the letter

"That's it I'm calling it in" she turned on her heel and hastily walked out of the room with her cellphone in her hand "This is Black Smoke calling from the Hyuuga compound, we need backup immediately, this is officially a crime scene."

"Sakura—I mean Poison—can you figure out how it happened?" she kept her voice as neutral as possible. In their world there was no time for mourning, all that mattered was completing the mission and as soon as one began the casual niceties and nick-names were dropped immediately and an air of professionalism was adopted.

"Yeah, judging from the large bump on the back of his head, Lee was struck from behind with a blunt object then stabbed multiple times as soon as he was unconscious and left to bleed to death"

"But it doesn't make any sense, Lee was an agent he'd never let anyone get the drop on him so easily" said Ino

"That's true but Lee didn't let this person get the drop on him. A struggle happened between them—Lee's knuckle is bleeding and he has a scratch on his cheek and a tear in his sleeve. And also, did any of you notice the dent in the wall behind me, one of them got slammed into it." Sakura explained

"How on earth did you…?" asked Naruto barely able to keep up

"No she's absolutely correct" said Neji factually

"Now that I've given you the basics, care to shed some light on how this all happened, White Lightning?" she said and raised an expectant eyebrow at him

"Of course" he gathered his thoughts for a moment then went to the door "Lee—for whatever reason—came into Hinata's room on his own. Perhaps he knew that someone was in here. The killer was waiting behind the door as shown by the scuff mark left by his shoes. Lee waited here in the centre of the bedroom and blocked an attack from the killer with his right arm—that's where the tear came from…"

Everyone watched with shear amazement as they watched Neji walk from the door to where Hinata was standing breaking down the crime scene bit by bit.

"Then Lee punched the killer multiple times on a very bony part of his body—most likely the cheek bone—until his knuckle started bleeding. But the killer fought back but ended up slammed into the wall by Lee—this was the turning point of the struggle…" Neji observed the wall and ran his finger over a wet patch on it, he'd figured something out

"Poison are Lee's eyes red by any chance?" he asked not taking his eyes off the wall

"Very, why do you ask?" even Sakura couldn't keep up with Neji sometimes

"Just as I thought he used pepper spray to slip out of Lee's grasp. And as for your blunt object…" he bent down and retrieved something from under the dressing table "Hinata's metal flower vase. He struck him over the head while he was still recovering from the pepper spray. And you know how the rest of the story goes." He concluded and looked at his team

Everyone was impressed to say the least. Neji had been solving crimes for years and yet the expertise and preciseness of his theories never got old. His colleagues were genuinely impressed every time he worked a crime scene.

Sakura worked with the rest of the other medics and took photos of Lee's body. Tenten just couldn't stomach what had just happened so she left the room and leaned against the rails of the stairs in the hallway. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Then she opened her eyes when she felt something warm cover her shoulders. She looked at Sasuke who had a blank look on his face; she couldn't read what he was feeling. She didn't feel like talking, she just slipped her arms into his blazer and leaned against him. _I can't believe I'll never see Lee again_ —she said in her head

An hour later the Hyuuga compound had been locked down and all the guests were kept where they were. The place was full of agents. It took until three a.m. to get the names of all the guests and their statements, the team regrouped downstairs.

"I just got a call from the head of FIRE Tsunade; she wants this case solved as soon as possible. And she wants the Lightning Class team working this case as well. Looks like you three are put together once again." Ino said as she referred to Neji, Sasuke and Shikamaru. The three of them were the best of the best; the top agents of FIRE. They had the highest success rate for their missions—as individuals they had their own codenames but when they were put together as a team they were given the collective codename: Lightning Class. They were all masters in different areas:

Sasuke Uchiha-most agile and the best fighter, codename: Black Lightning

Neji Hyuuga-highly intelligent, has a knack for decoding and decryption as well as infiltration and deduction, codename: White Lightning

Shikamaru Nara-undisputed genius, very strategic and logical, gifted in choosing the best strategy to implement in a difficult situation, codename: Navy Lightning

After a gruelling three hours looking for clues and searching every inch of the Hyuuga compound, the agents were allowed to go home.

One week later

Tenten walked into her high-rise apartment and went straight to her bedroom. It was one in the morning. She quickly got changed and went to bed, trying to forget everything that happened. She spent pretty much the entire day at the agency trying to find out more about Lee's killer but she was at a dead end. She was restless in her sleep—having a nightmare. She kept seeing Lee's face everywhere she went but not his usual passionate and beaming face but the face she saw at the party…lifeless and empty. She was screaming his name both in her dreams and in real life.

"… _enten, Tenten!"_ she finally woke up in a cold sweat and breathing erratically. She looked up and found Neji leaning over her with his arms on her shoulders. Tenten—dazed and confused had no idea what was happening

"Neji what are you doing here? Wait—better question—how did you get in my room?"

"As if something as simple as a locked door can keep me out. I'm an expert at infiltration remember? And as for your first question, I came to check on you. I didn't know you were asleep already but as soon as I got to your door I heard screaming so I rushed in."

Tenten's cheeks turned slightly red when she realised that Neji was leaning over her while she was in her sleepwear which consisted of black lace underwear with a thin shear short black night gown.

"Well you didn't have to go to all that trouble" she said as she avoided eye contact

She got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen to make some tea while Neji waited in the living room. Her mind was flooded with thoughts as she waited for the kettle to boil the water.

"What happened in the bedroom? Were you having a nightmare?" Neji asked as he leaned against the kitchen wall

"Yeah I was" she answered softly

"Keeping it in won't do you any good"

"I'm not keeping in anything I'm fine" she retorted, she wasn't in the mood to have this conversation

"You know Tenten, secret codes, crime scenes and artefacts aren't the only things I can read. The person you were back at the crime scene and the person you are now are very different" he got off the wall and walked towards her. He'd noticed that ever since the case started Tenten wasn't herself anymore, she was a lot more reserved and barely showed any emotion—not even to him.

"Yeah and what's the difference?" she raised an eyebrow at him

"You've put up a front right now and you're completely devoid of emotion. I'm worried about you—"

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU I'M—" she began yelling but regained her composure "I already told you I'm fine Neji. I'm just trying to stay focused on finding who did this, so excuse me for not curling up in foetal position and crying like some weakling"

"This 'focused' demeanour you think you have is coming off as cold and emotionless"

That was the final straw

"How dare you accuse me of being emotionless?! Lee was one of my best friends not to mention a teammate and I loved everything about him…" tears were streaming down her face while she was hitting him on the chest "And for you to come here and accuse me of being unsympathetic is unfair!"

"If that's the truth then why won't you let yourself feel anything?!"

"Because I don't want to be weak anymore!" she yelled at him

Neji stopped

"Tenten crying doesn't make you weak, and even if it does, there's nothing wrong with that."

"There's everything wrong with being weak, it's a curse. The strong take advantage of the weak. I was nothing but weak when I was younger and all it got me was watching my parents get killed in front of me. I got into a whole lot of crap because I let people walk all over me—even to the point of almost being sexually harassed and it's because I cried and waited for people to save me. It was only after I stopped crying and got off my ass and finally started fending for myself that I was able to become who I am today, so you'll have to forgive me for not wanting to show anything"

"Tenten…

He had no idea she was so emotionally scarred, and that she carried such a heavy burden with her everyday

"Look, I'm devastated about what happened to Lee, I really am, he was like a brother to me but…" she was trembling with emotion. Neji put his arms around her and held her close to him but she struggled

"No, let go of me Neji…" but he never did "I don't want your sympathy, I…" she began crying uncontrollably and buried her face in his chest, Neji held her tighter. She eventually sank to her knees and Neji went down with her. He wouldn't let her face this alone, at that moment she needed him and he was going to be there for her. He stroked her back and let her cry into his shirt—she needed to let her feelings out.

A moment later she calmed down and looked up at Neji with watery red eyes that spilled tears as well as emotions.

"I can't believe I'll never see him again" she whispered to him then closed her eyes and put her arms around him to which he responded by kissing her on the forehead.

A while later they made their way to the living room and sat on the white couch with a cup of tea in their hands.

"So apart from wanting to check up on me, why did you come here?" she asked

"It's about the note. Can you think of anyone who could have wanted Lee gone, someone that knows a lot about our days as Team Guy?"

"I'd been thinking about that as well and I couldn't think of anyone. Whoever this is seems pretty confident in the information they have about our teenage years on the team."

"It must have been someone we defeated on a mission with Guy sensei."

"Yeah, someone we defeated but never caught. I looked up everyone we've put behind bars in the last ten years and they're all still doing time in prison." She said as she took another sip of her tea

"Oh I almost forgot…" he took something out of his blazer pocket "This was found inserted deep in Lee's chest. It seems our friend stabbed Lee and broke his knife, leaving the blade inside." He handed her the blade in the plastic evidence bag.

"Now were playing in my court. Let's take this to my study I want to take a closer look at it."

Neji followed Tenten down the hall and waited as she turned in the lights to her study. It looked comfortable and professional at the same time. The walls were painted beige with a chocolate brown carpet. There were four full bookshelves aligned on the left wall while the right side of the room hosted a fire place and two one seaters. And at the very back of the room in front of the windows was a large smooth mahogany table.

Tenten walked to the second bookshelf and pulled it forward with ease, behind it was a white door. A secret door behind the bookshelf, Neji was surprised, although he didn't know why he was. Tenten was an agent she had to have some secret areas in her home.

They walked into a white state-of-the-art laboratory. Chemicals; beakers; test-tubes; you name it. All this and so much more was in this lab. Tenten tied up her hair and put on surgical gloves.

"Alright let's take a look at this knife blade" she said as she took it out of the plastic bag and examined it under her microscope. She carefully inspected the blade and noticed that the back had writing on it.

"This blade was deliberately left in Lee's chest, the killer wanted you and I to see it. You notice the writing on the back?" she asked while examining the blade

"Yeah but it's in Mandarin so none of them could translate it. I already read the engraved writing and understood it but I wanted you to read it for yourself…to see what we're really dealing with. That's partly why I brought it to you, that and the fact that your knowledge of weaponry in the entire agency is unmatched."

"You're starting to scare me" she slowly read over the Mandarin and felt her heart beat faster as soon as she finished

" _One man's pain is another man's ecstasy"_

"What kind of twisted person would…" she trailed off

"Anything else you can learn from the blade?" he asked as walked up behind her and stood with his chest against her back.

"Um…well judging by the scratches on the blade—or lack thereof—our killer was skilled with knives but had barely used this one which means that he'd just gotten it. Also he was left handed seeing that the more lustrous side of the knife is on the left side."

"And what's that at the base of the blade where it's been broken off?" he indicated his arms now under hers but neither seemed to notice just how close they were

"It's a company logo—obviously of the company that made this knife. It's the Exclusive Blades company logo and they're major company is in Tokyo. The owner of the company also runs a shady night-club in the heart of the city and he only ever deals with clients face-to-face. Looks like we've got a location to go on, maybe we can find out just how much time our killer spent there."

"You learned all that from half a blade?"

"Hey weapons are my specialty"

"Clearly they are, you're practically glowing" he said in her ear and lowered his arms around her waist. She smirked

"Isn't it a bit early in the morning for this?" she said, a hint of yearning evident in her voice

"It's never too early to do this" he spoke against her bare neck

"Whoa break it up you two" came a third voice from the door

The best fighter in the agency codename: Black Lightning, Sasuke Uchiha just walked in. The young pair turned to address him

"Hey Sasuke, how did you get in here?" she unwrapped herself from Neji's arms and walked over to him. Neji and Sasuke nodded to each other in greeting

"The door was open" he lied

"No it wasn't" she chuckled because she knew he was lying

"You're right it wasn't but I decided to let myself in anyways. Clearly I shouldn't have because I was obviously interrupting the two of you in whatever you were just doing"

"We weren't doing anything serious we were just messing around" she admitted while she blushed

"Are you kidding me, you two were five seconds away from undressing each other" he said with a blank expression on his face. If he hadn't noticed her blushing before he certainly did now because his last comment mead her whole face turn pink

"Okay that's it I'm changing the subject" she retrieved the blade from the counter-top and showed it to Sasuke. "We've got our first location that the killer's been to. The logo for the knife company is at the bottom of the blade. The owner has a night-club that I think is worth investigating and the easy part is that he's a real looker. He spends most of his time watching the ladies do their 'work' " she explained then referred to her state of dress—or lack thereof

"Ah so he's a rich pervert, they're always the easiest to extract information from. So you're going to suit up in your best 'outfit' and talk him over"

"Not necessarily, if we're going to do this right we're going to need to consult the best of us in terms of disguises—especially sexy ones. Her codename is Flame for a reason; she's the best at extracting information from criminals because she's willing to go to any lengths to get the information even if it means being felt up by a felon when she's in disguise as well as playing decoy on missions. There isn't a single person on earth she can't fool." She said as she worked on her cellphone and dialled a number…

"Hey, I've got a mission and I'm going to need your expertise. Come over to my place at seven in the morning Ino" she then hung up the phone


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: The Mission_

The three of them left the lab and went back to the living room. Tenten took the two cups she and Neji had used to the kitchen then went back to the living room.

"Since we're practically on the job you guys are welcome to stay until Ino gets here and we start our mission"

"Great I'll see you two later"

"You know where the guest room is?" she called after him

"Yeah, goodnight"

She turned to Neji and looked up at him

"Can I talk to you?" she asked then made her way to the bedroom and Neji followed suit

Neji took a seat on the bed while Tenten stood with her back to him.

"So what did you want to talk about?" he asked and lay down on the bed

"About what happened earlier, what we talked about in the kitchen…could you not…" she trailed off

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone, you didn't even need to ask, I would never betray your trust like that"

"Thank you" she said quietly then walked up to the bed and sat next to Neji and looked down at him

"It's actually quite hard to believe that you weren't always this strong and determined" he spoke with his eyes closed

"Yeah well life has a way of changing people" she admitted then rested her head on his chest and looked at the clock on her side table; it was half past two in the morning. Ino would arrive at her house in four and a half hours. She was going to need as much rest as possible if she wanted to be ready for their mission later so without hesitation she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Six forty five a.m.

Tenten tiredly opened her eyes and looked around the room and realised that she wasn't asleep on Neji's chest like she'd been a few hours ago. It seems at some point during their slumber the two of them got a lot closer together. She was curled up against him while his arms were around her waist. He was still fast asleep so she carefully unwrapped herself from his arms and went to take a shower. A few minutes later she came out of the bathroom in a towel and went straight to her closet. She picked out black skinny jeans and a black mandarin collared sleeveless shirt with white cherry blossoms on it.

"You're very trusting, getting changed comfortably while there's a man in your room" Neji spoke with his eyes closed since she was changing

"Of course I trust you, I mean we've been on missions where we've had to share a bed and nothing happened then so what could possibly happen if I change in front of you. And besides I know you wouldn't so anything, you could've watched me change right now but you didn't." she responded

They made their way to the living room when a knock came from the door. Tenten answered it and led Ino inside.

"Alright so what are we doing today?" she asked as she sat down on the couch then saw Sasuke walk in the room after she'd greeted Neji

"Wow so much eye candy so early in the morning. Did you enjoy having two guys to snuggle with Tenten?" Ino asked sarcastically

"Yes I did if you must know" Tenten played along "Now getting back to the actual mission, did you bring the files along like I asked?"

"Yep they're all here" said Ino as she took three files out of her handbag

"Alright tonight we're going to the exclusive _Shots for All_ night club. The owner of the night club is Koji Mashite age 23. Ino he is your target for the evening, we know he loves women so you'll have to look beyond enticing to get his attention. And as for me, I'll be searching the area in disguise as well—apparently Koji makes his weapons shipments via the night club. I want to see if I can find a match to the blade found in Lee's chest. Neji and Sasuke you two will be backing us up from inside" she finished explaining "Oh yeah Ino what about Shikamaru?"

"I already spoke to him, he'll hack into the security of the night club and watch and back us up from HQ." Ino explained

"As for outfits, Ino you'll need to show some skin and a lot of cleavage and unfortunately I'll be doing the same"

"What do you mean?" asked Sasuke

"The waitress outfit that I'll be wearing is a skin tight black leather halter, plunging V-neckline jumpsuit."

"That's not so bad, your outfit is a jumpsuit so at least it's just some chest you're showing" commented Ino

"Don't let the name 'jumpsuit' fool you, the bottom of this outfit—if you can call it that— barely covers my ass. But on the bright side I at least get to cover up a bit with this white blazer"

"I think I can honestly say that everyone in this room—except you—is looking forward to seeing you in that disguise" she smirked at Tenten.

Xxx

It was six o clock in the evening; the team was at FIRE Headquarters in Akihabara. Tenten and Ino were getting ready while Neji and Sasuke joined Shikamaru in the control room and watched him hack into the night club they were just about to infiltrate. Shikamaru's phone vibrated, it was a message from Ino:

" **We're good to go"**

"You two should head downstairs the girls are ready" said Shikamaru not taking his eyes away from the computer screen.

The two agents made their way to the elevator; and stood in silence as the numbers descended from the floor they were on.

"You ready?" Sasuke spoke up

"I suppose so but it all depends on whether or not the girls can pull it off"

"You have doubts?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him

"I have full faith in them but the mission doesn't only concern them, they're up against an enemy who's managed to make a name for himself in the dark underbelly of the city at the age of twenty three."

"It's not like they're going alone; that's what we're there for. Me, you and Shikamaru—the Lightning Class team that have the highest success rates for missions. You don't have to worry about Tenten; she can take care of herself"

"I never said…" he trailed off

"You didn't have to" Sasuke finished then went silent when the elevator doors opened

The both of them walked out and went straight to the transformation section. They walked into the first room on the right side. Ino just walked out of her changing room when the guys walked in: she was wearing a turquoise halter dress with a plunging V-neckline that went down to the middle of her stomach. The dress in cinched at the waist and was free flowing all the way to the floor with a thigh high slit on the left with bronze below the knee gladiator heels. She wore plum lipstick, mascara and she had brunette hair curled and resting on her right shoulder. She also wore hazel eye contacts.

"You went with brunette hair and hazel eyes this time, it suits you"

"Thanks, is Tenten out yet?" she asked as she adjusted her contacts

"I'm just about done" came Tenten from the changing room

A few seconds later she emerged wearing a pair of black high heels, with white knee high socks with black ribbons in either leg. Then the actual 'outfit' was—as mentioned before—a skin tight black leather halter, plunging V-neckline jumpsuit. But the bottom barely covered her butt and accompanied by a white blazer. She had sapphire contact lenses with crimson red hair tied in a slick ponytail and lipstick to match.

Tenten stared at her friends who remained silent for a while. They looked pretty much speechless.

"Well how do I look?" she asked feeling slightly self-conscious

"Holy crap Tenten you look so HOT. You look flawless" Ino went on complimenting her

"You guys got your new identities?" asked Sasuke

"Yeah I'm Miyasu Kokoni age twenty three and just moved to Tokyo" said Tenten

"And I'm Keiko Hizaki age twenty three and looking for a good deal. Alright let's get going." said Ino as she and Sasuke left ahead of Neji and Tenten. The two of them stood in silence for a moment until she looked up at Neji and noticed him staring making her smile

"What's with that look?" he asked slightly amused himself

"I know that face, you're thinking all kinds of things right now aren't you? Things about us that aren't exactly innocent"

"What guy wouldn't think this way if they saw their best friend in a scantily clad outfit? I mean seriously you look incredibly attractive in that" he admitted honestly

18:30 Tokyo, _Shots for All_ nightclub

The group arrived and parked behind the nightclub. Miyasu left first and entered through the back entrance. Music blared from inside the building as she searched for the staff lounge. She walked into the room and saw about twenty-five-or-so girls all wearing the same uniform she was wearing. They all looked to be in their twenty's. Miyasu looked around the room in awe; it was exquisitely decorated for a staff lounge. There was a crystal chandelier in the centre of the ceiling, a white marble fire-place with three two-seaters as well as a buffet table and a walk in closet.

"Are you new here?" asked a woman with a black pixie-cut bob and green eyes

"Um, yeah I start today" Miyasu replied

"Oh welcome to the nightclub. If you want I could show you around"

"I'd really appreciate it"

"I'm Kara Ritomika" she smiled then led the way to the main bar

"I'm Miyasu Kokoni" she introduced herself as she followed Kara

The two of them walked down a long hallway and the further they went the louder the music became. They eventually made it to the club; the room was currently purple courtesy of the disco light on the ceiling. Masses of people were dancing or drinking or both at the same time. The bar was to the left of the dancefloor where slightly older men would drown themselves in alcohol and fill their minds with lust as they tried their luck with the younger waitresses. This made Miyasu feel slightly self-conscious but she pushed those thoughts away –she had a mission and she was going to complete it.

"Basically your job is to serve the customers as well as give them something a little extra if you know what I mean" said Kara a little suggestively "Observe…" she took two glasses of tequila to a table of two young men. She slowly leaned in and placed the glasses on coasters while she flirtatiously smiled at the two guys who stared yearningly at her semi-exposed chest.

"Enjoy your drinks" she said in a low voice then walked back to Miyasu "See its simple" she said as she placed her tray on the counter top and picked up a list and read it.

"Oh it looks like we're split up; I'm filling in orders on the other side of the bar. Will you be alright on your own?"

"Yeah I'll be fine" she replied with a smile and watched Kara walk away. Miyasu then turned her attention to the entrance and saw a young man walk in. He looked exactly like the picture she'd showed the others back at her place

"Target acquired" she spoke into her ear-com "I'm going in" she picked up her tray and walked in his direction. She then 'accidentally' bumped into him

"Oh my gosh I am sorry, I wasn't paying attention" she apologised

"No it's my fault" he too apologised as he helped her up "Wow you're absolutely gorgeous…"

"Um thank you" she blushed

"I haven't seen you around here, did you just start or something?"

"Yeah my shift started twenty minutes ago"

"Is that so?" he smirked "Well I hope you enjoy working here" he kissed her hand before smiled at her then walked away

"Ino get ready, I've diverted him to your direction"

"Got it I see him now" Ino replied

"Oh and be careful he's actually quite good looking and he clearly knows how to smooth over women. Don't let him win you over" Miyasu admitted

"Tenten—I mean Miyasau—who do think you're talking to? I'm a professional I can handle him" she then focused on the man walking towards her.

"Now how is it that someone as stunning as you is dateless?" he asked with a charming smile as he sat next to her

"I was actually waiting for someone" she returned the smile

"And he hasn't arrived yet?"

"Actually he just did" she said flirtatiously

"Oh…" he purred "And what is it that I can do for you?" he whispered into her ear

"Actually it's business so let's talk somewhere more private" she spoke with her lips literally hovering above his

"No problem follow me"

Meanwhile Neji had pulled Miyasu aside to talk to her.

"I just got word from Navy Lightning that Koji's weapons room is in the basement of the nightclub" he filled her in in the empty hallway with a staircase leading to an area off-limits to anyone except for Koji.

"Fantastic my shift ends soon so I can sneak in and find out—

"Guys Koji and Keiko are headed in your direction" Shikamaru warned them through their ear-pieces

"And he'll be suspicious if he finds one of his staff members in an off-limits area" Miyasu panicked

"Neji it looks like you'll have to go with 'the chemistry rule' " Shikamaru said clearly amused

"It would seem so" Neji smirked "How close are they?"

"They'll reach you in nine seconds" Shikamaru confirmed

"Tenten open your left eye ten seconds after our time's up"

5…4…3

"Alright but what is—

He cut her off by pressing his lips against hers. By the time she'd processed that he was kissing her she heard Koji and Keiko turn into the hallway they were in. She dropped her tray and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She'd caught on to his idea—no one would be suspicious of two young adults in a sultry nightclub alone in an off-limits area if it was for the right reason—and their reason was being alone in order to make out. What started off as a gentle kiss quickly got passionate as he deepened it and wrapped his arms a little tighter around her waist.

Half of her was cursing him for dropping a bomb like that on her without any heads-up but the other half was too busy enjoying the kiss to care. But she could enjoy it no longer because time was up. She opened her left eye just as Neji had told her and she saw Koji walking up the staircase followed by Keiko who caught her eye and winked at Miyasu before she followed Koji upstairs.

As soon as he heard a door close Neji slowly pulled away from Miyasu however she wasn't so ready to break the kiss since she leaned in a little after he pulled back. This made him smirk.

"Don't tell me that my lips had that much of an effect on you" he said clearly amused as he noticed her blushing cheeks. Miyasu quickly regained her composure.

"Don't flatter yourself…" she bent down to pick up her tray "Now if you will excuse me I have a job to do" The double meaning of her words weren't lost to Neji. He just watched her walk away with a satisfied look on his face. An hour later Miyasu returned to the hallway and made her way downstairs to the basement. The room was larger than she expected and had dozens of crates—all with the same logo as the knife that was used to kill Lee had. She walked to the nearest one and lifted the heavy wooden lid. In that crate was an arsenal of pistols and revolvers. She opened a second crate and found exactly what she'd been looking for—knives that looked identical to the one the killer used. Miyasu took her cellphone out of her leg holster and took multiple photos of them.

A sound from behind startled her; someone was coming inside and getting caught wasn't an option. She ran a few feet up the wall near the door and launched herself towards one of the supporting beams and climbed on top. Whoever walked in went straight to the crate filled with knives and took one of them out. As soon as he turned around and faced the light pouring in from the hallway Miyasu confirmed that it was Koji. I thought he was with Keiko—she said in her head.

"Navy Lightning give me a location on Koji right now" she whispered into her ear piece

"He's in his office talking—well flirting rather—with Keiko" he responded

It didn't make any sense for Koji to be with Keiko when he was standing in the room with Miyasu at that very moment. What's going on here?—she thought in her head. As soon as he left Miyasu jumped down and left the weapons room unnoticed and went back to the nightclub.

Meanwhile Keiko was sitting on Koji's desk as he stood in front of her, his arms on either side of her.

"So what business do you have here?" he asked

"I know that you've got weapons and I'm looking to buy one to teach a certain man a lesson" she coolly replied

"Let me guess you found this guy with another woman so you want revenge" he moved a little closer

"Something like that" she lied "All I want to do is show him how it feels to be stabbed" she let some emotion slip through "And just to make it ironic I want to buy a knife that I know he has and I know he got it here recently within a two week frame. And I also know that you only deal with clients face-to-face"

"Damn babe you did your homework and I do remember having three customers these past two weeks so he must be one of them. Everything is in that book over there." He pointed to the book next to his computer monitor. That was his mistake—letting anyone know anything about his business but he was so taken by Keiko that he didn't think about the repercussions of letting an outsider know of his work.

"Mind if I take a look?" she asked softly

"Sorry babe client-confidentiality is one of my rules but if you can pay I can definitely get you one of my custom made knives"

"Oh I can definitely pay" she looked into his piercing grey eyes

"Then I'll be right back" he slowly pulled away from her and walked out of the room. She smiled to herself.

"Time to get to work" she pulled off the bottom half of her left earring and revealed it to be USB that she plugged into his computer and began copying files concerning the company of weapons he owned. Normally copying that much info would take a few hours but because she was an agent she was able to get everything she needed in one minute as well as taking photos of the names in the book of customers all before Koji returned. And when he walked in he found her exactly where he'd left her. He placed the package containing the knife on the table.

"Now…" he kissed her "Let's forget about all this and get to the main event" he kissed her again and put his arms around her waist. Keiko put her arms around his neck and kissed him harder. Within a few seconds of kissing her he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Well it looks like that knockout lipstick really does work. Sorry babe but I've got to go." She said to his sleeping body before she walked out of the room and back to the nightclub with the package in her hand. As soon as she was gone he opened his eyes and stood up immediately.

"Sorry babe but that old trick won't work on me. Now go and tell Tenten and the others what you learned" he smirked "I do look forward to seeing you all again"

Xxx

Back at HQ the team met in the control room to discuss the mission.

"Alright so what have you guys learned?" said Tenten as she walked in the room with Ino; they'd changed back into their original clothes.

"Well overall the mission was a success. The photos you took and the knife Ino managed to get her hands on match the type of knife found in Lee's chest." He placed all three items side-by-side. "Now all we have left to do is figure out which of the three clients is our killer and that's where Neji comes in"

"Great now that everything's under control can you guys tell me what 'the chemistry rule' is"

"Oh yeah I almost forgot about that. You finally got your chance Neji" Shikamaru chuckled

"The chemistry rule' is a protocol that the three of us created" Sasuke added in

"You guys came up with your own protocol" Tenten asked a little surprised

"Yeah whenever a member of the Lightning Class is partnered up with a previous female teammate and happens to find themselves in a rather delicate social situation 'The chemistry rule' is perfect for diffusing the situation" Sasuke explained

"So the both of you have already used this protocol then?" she directed her attention to Shikamaru and Sasuke

"Yep Sasuke with Sakura and me with Ino" said Shikamaru

"What are the men of this organisation coming to?" she said before walking out of the room

She walked outside and took in a deep breath of the city air. The city was so loud and bright as she looked down at the neon lights that illuminated the vibrant city. She closed her eyes and leaned against the rails of the balcony.

"Are you alright?" she opened her eyes to the person that spoke

"Hinata…yeah I'm fine just thinking"

"The pressure isn't getting to you right?"

"No it's not that I was just thinking that I need a change of scenery. There are too many memories of Lee back at my apartment; he used to come over a lot. I need some time to clear my head and gain some new perspective"

"Then why don't you?" Hinata asked looking concerned for her friend

"And go where? I can't take time off in the middle of an assignment"

"You don't need to go far just somewhere you can be that isn't at your apartment. Like my place for example"

"No I couldn't I don't want to invade your space"

"You won't be…it'll be fun, I insist" she smiled at Tenten

"Well if you insist"

Hinata parked her car in the driveway and got out. The two agents walked inside the house.

"Goodness and I thought the outside was huge. Your house looked a lot smaller at the party ironically" Tenten stared around the room in awe

Her eyes were greeted with exquisite—and expensive—decorations. Marble white floors and twin staircases and a chandelier that hung in the centre.

They walked upstairs and into Hinata's bedroom which was white and navy: the carpet matched the navy duvet cover while the curtains and walls were white. A large mahogany study desk with a laptop was on the left of the room and to the right was a balcony with a table and four chairs. Next to that was the bathroom which had champagne coloured tiles; a large white marble bathtub and a two person shower with frosted glass.

"Your room is just as beautiful as I remember" said Tenten as she placed her bags down

"Thanks"

A knock on the door caught their attention

"Hinata I've already made dinner—Tenten?" he looked surprised

"Hey Neji" she casually greeted

"Oh Neji I forgot to tell you that I invited Tenten over for the weekend. It's not a problem right?"

"Not at all" he replied "Dinner's on the table" he left and closed the door behind him

"Shall we?" Hinata asked

"Of course" the two of them left the room and went downstairs and sat at the family table. Neji was in the kitchen dishing up a plate for Tenten. He then came to the table and sat down with them.

"So what's the occasion?" he asked

"I just needed a change of scenery and Hinata invited me over for that reason. I just wanted to clear my head."

"Too many memories?" he asked

"Yeah" she then took a forkful of lasagne

"It's so strange we're two weeks into the investigation and I still can't believe that Lee's gone. I mean I know the bad guy is angry for being defeated but why kill?—why kill at all?" Hinata said sadly

"Why kill indeed?" Neji finished his food then folded his arms "There are countless reasons as to why people kill, revenge is just one of them. But we agents can't afford to be naïve about anything; the world is cruel place."

"Neji's right Hinata we can't afford to let personal opinions cloud the real situation. As a new agent; my advice to you is to think about your training and think of the real world as five times worse. Training may have been hell but compared to the real world it's nothing because in the real world the bad guys don't follow protocol."

"But that's why we have teammates to back us up on missions"

Hinata looked down at her plate with a feeling of fear settling in

"You two have seen your fair share of casualties right?" she asked them to which they looked to each other for a response.

"Yeah we have but never one that's hit home as hard as this one" Tenten finished

The three of them cleared up the table then went upstairs. Tenten went to take a shower. As the warm water beat down against her skin she kept thinking about her kiss with Neji at the nightclub. There was more to that kiss than just a distraction and they both knew it but they never got the chance to speak to each other about it. Ten minutes later she stepped out of the shower dried herself and began blow-drying her hair. As soon as she finished she put on her underwear and night-gown and walked into the bedroom

"What the—Neji what are you doing in here?" she asked and realised that Neji was seeing her in her underwear for a second time

"Hinata left her clothes in my room so I brought them back"

"Oh…what was she doing in your room?" Tenten asked walking to the bed

"She's using my shower while you used hers" he suddenly smirked which made her suspicious "Why are you so worried about me being in here anyways? It's not like I've never seen you in your underwear before"

"Well for one thing I don't want you staring at me like that. Just because you've seen me like this doesn't mean it's okay. I don't want you getting used to this"

"Trust me Tenten when it comes to you, I'll never get used to it"

"Oh brother" she rolled her eyes at him

"Come now Tenten don't act like you don't like this" he walked closer and stopped right in front of her

"Hey I never said that" she looked up into his eyes

"You didn't have to. Actions speak louder than words" he then put his arms around her waist and leaned in

"I don't remember giving you permission to put your arms around me" she smirked and leaned in as well

"If you didn't want me to you would have stopped me by now"

"Well I guess I just figured that since I let you come this far I might as well let you finish…so finish. Our lips are almost touching and what if—hypothetically—I want to kiss you as much as you want to kiss me" she then pressed herself against him and wrapped her arms around his neck "It's your move Neji so you better make it now. I'm sure Hinata's done showering"

He leaned in to whisper in her ear

"And since it's my move I choose not to use it now. But don't worry I will kiss you just when you least expect it" he then kissed her neck making her moan slightly. He smirked against her skin then slowly pulled away from her neck and back to her face. He looked into her chocolate brown eyes for a moment before uttering a-goodnight-and brushing his lips over hers and finally leaving the room. Tenten just stood where she was slowly shaking her head with a cheeky smile on her face. That man just loves teasing me—she said in her head.

Hinata walked past her cousin on her way back to her room and noticed that he looked surprisingly happy and when she walked into her room she found Tenten with the same expression. She knew something had happened between the two of them but she decided not to ask. She just went to her cupboard to get her silk lavender pyjama dress.

"Your cousin really is something Hinata, you know that?" she said from her laying position on the bed

"Only when you're around Tenten" she said softly with a smile on her face

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing"

The girls went to bed at 23:00 but they hadn't fallen asleep yet.

"Do you still think about that night?" asked Tenten

"Yeah…I can still see myself walking in here and finding his body. I just wish I could forget seeing him like that, motionless."

"It'll get better with time"

"Will it though? Or is that just something people say to be optimistic?" she spoke quietly

Tenten didn't know how to answer that question because she didn't know the answer herself. The two agents eventually fell asleep as the crickets chirped outside and the moon watched them sleep. It was two a.m. when Tenten's phone started vibrating. She tiredly grabbed it from under her pillow and squinted her eyes to look at the bright screen to see who was calling—it was Shikamaru. She picked up immediately

"Shikamaru? What's up?" she spoke tiredly into the phone

"I've discovered something and it's important" he replied in a serious tone

"Can't it wait until the sun's up?"

"I'm afraid it can't. Are you home?"

"No I'm at Neji and Hinata's place for the weekend"

"Alright I'm on my way" he put the phone down before she could get another word in

Tenten looked to her side and saw Hinata was still fast asleep so she carefully slid out of her bed and walked out of the room and her night-gown over her black pyjama shirt and white shorts. As she approached Neji's room she saw that his light was still on. She decided to walk in and check on him. Neji was sitting at his desk with a lot of files and photographs.

"You know working yourself to death won't guarantee that you'll find the killer faster" she said as she approached his desk. He looked up at her with a serious look on his face.

"I just want to be sure that I didn't miss anything" he went back to reading the reports. She walked around the desk, removed all the files and papers and sat right in front of him on the desk.

"Neji look at me" she said seriously and as soon as he did she saw the unmistakable look of fatigue in his eyes "You need to sleep"

"No I need to get back to work" he said bringing the repots back but she slammed her hands on top of them before he could get them and he finally gave up on trying to work. She then got off his desk and sat him down on his bed while she sat behind him and kneaded his shoulders. He immediately relaxed and closed his eyes as she continued on

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure" he replied

"Are you doing this to distract yourself?"

"Distract myself from what?" but she didn't answer and he knew what she was talking about "No I'm not trying to distract myself"

"Well it sure seems that way; I mean aren't you tired?"

"Honestly I'm exhausted"

"Then why don't you let yourself rest?"

"Because if I don't get this work done then who will?" he slightly tensed up

She sighed "You know what I've noticed about us…" she stopped massaging him and sat next to him on the bed "That over the duration of our friendship; it's always been you asking if I'm coping or how I'm doing but you never seem to talk about yourself. Although I'm partly to blame since I don't ask but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't talk about yourself though."

"Tenten I ask you those questions because I'm genuinely worried about you and I'm not using my work as a distraction or to cover up my emotions."

"Well wrapping yourself in work in order to forget how you feel is a typical Neji thing to do. And it all works out for you; I mean I'm just a regular agent but you're an agent for regular assignments and you're a part of the Lightning Class for incredibly difficult assignments that normal agents can't handle. That's twice the work and half the amount of sleep that I get. It just seems like you haven't felt anything since that night"

"What makes you say that?" he asked

"I mean the way you worked that crime-scene was like Lee was nothing special at all"

"That's only because I've become so accustomed to it. I was on auto-pilot when I worked through the crime-scene. I'm so used to it that it's second nature. And you're mistaking indifference for numbness. I was so shocked at what I saw that I just went numb; I just couldn't react. I'd even surprised myself" he looked down into his lap as he spoke. As close as he and Tenten were, his body may have been in the room but his mind was a million miles away. He felt distanced from her.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I reacted the way did?" he asked and looked at her

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really"

"Well then there isn't much more I can do. I can't make you tell me what happened, it's your choice, and you have to want to tell me. Until then I'll wait" she replied "But one thing I can do is make you go to sleep"

"And how do plan on doing that?"

"Are you honestly telling me that you have enough energy to fight me on this?" he paused for a moment and realised that he was no match for her considering that she'd been asleep while he was working. He was exhausted just thinking about arguing with her.

"Alright I'll go to sleep" he said before yawning

Tenten watched him get in the blankets and lay his head on the pillow. He looked as though he'd fallen asleep immediately; she smiled to herself before walking out the door and heading downstairs. She boiled the kettle and made herself some tea. As soon as she sat down on the couch in the living room she saw headlights make their way onto the drive way.

She opened the door for him and showed him to the living room.

"So what was so urgent that it couldn't wait, Shikamaru?" he looked at her questioningly

"What, it's after hours, so I'm allowed to call you by your name. So what's up?"

"It's about our friend Koji"

"What about him?" she raised a brow at him

"I went over the footage from the nightclub and found something shocking" he explained as he took out his laptop and opened a few files "This is him when he came to the basement the same time you were there and this is him when he was in his office with Ino. Notice anything strange?"

"No ways that's impossible, he's…

The two videos were captured simultaneously. Tenten observed the times, the first when he was in his office was 20:31:15 and the second when he was in the basement with Tenten was 20:31:17.

"In two places at once." He finished her sentence

"How's that possible?"

"I don't know but how ever he did it is the key to how he took out Lee. I got Sakura's report of her examination of Lee's body. She figured the Time of Death to be between half past ten and half past eleven."

"Hmm…that's around the time Sasuke and I were followed by someone when we were outside. He was probably watching his own back while the other one was taking care of Lee"

"That's true and it's no trick I did a scan on both of the Koji's, they're one-hundred percent identical, not a single flaw with either of them. So it's not just some disguise their genetics are the same as well."

"Maybe he has a twin"

"I already checked his family history, he's an only child"

They talked for a while longer but weren't any closer to the truth than they were from the beginning. It was three a.m. when it started raining and Shikamaru said goodnight and headed for the door. Tenten decided to walk him to his car.

The two of them walked close together under the large umbrella shielding them from the rain. Shikamaru pressed the unlock button on his car keys and that's when Tenten caught it. It was barely a whiff but Tenten recognised the unmistakable scent in the air…His hand had just pulled the door handle.

"SHIKAMARU WAIT—

She pushed him out of the way just in time to avoid the explosion of his car. The sound of the explosion tore through the pouring rain and lit up the sky for an instant then leaving behind a plume of black smoke drifting lazily into the black sky.

"You alright?" she asked still holding on to him

"Yeah I'm fine thanks to you. What about you?"

"I've been better" she was clutching on to her left side and her night-gown was stained with blood. "I think a piece of the debris got me"

"What the hell—Tenten, Shikamaru!" yelled Neji as he ran towards them "What happened?!"

"Looks like a bomb was planted in Shikamaru's car" said Tenten "But can we talk about this inside away from the rain?" Neji picked her up and headed inside with Shikamaru

"What was that explosion just now?" came Hinata

"I'll explain while Tenten gets patched up" said Shikamaru as he gladly took the towel Hinata handed him to dry himself off

Neji carried her to his bathroom upstairs and set her on the counter-top. She immediately removed her wet night-gown and dried herself.

"Your wound needs to be cleaned and wrapped up. I'll go get Hinata—

"No Neji it's fine, you can do it…I trust you"

He paused for a moment

"Alright then"

Tenten slowly took off her shirt and folded her arms over her chest while Neji got the disinfectant from one of the cabinets. Tenten didn't feel as uncomfortable as she thought she would having Neji see her body so close. She actually felt quite relaxed about it because she knew Neji better than anyone else, that he wouldn't try anything. She looked down at him with a smile on her face wondering what was going through his head at that moment.

Neji held the wet cloth against her left side and heard a small yelp escape her lips as the disinfectant shot a stinging wave through her body and as she winced her muscles in her stomach contracted and he could see the outline of her muscles. Tenten had a toned body. But Neji kept a straight face, if he were anyone else; he'd have all kinds of inappropriate thoughts swimming through his mind at that moment but that wasn't the type of guy he was especially not when the situation was so serious. He just didn't feel for Tenten in that way—or so he told himself but found it harder to believe each time he tried to convince himself.

After he cleaned the wound he got a roll of bandages and slowly wrapped them around her torso. The feeling of his hands gliding over her stomach and back made her stomach flutter. When he finished he stood up and was about to put the bandages away when suddenly Tenten wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close. At first he just stood still but then he hugged her back and stood in silence with her for what seemed like an eternity. He looked at his reflection in the mirror hugging her; she fit perfectly between his arms.

"What was this for?" he finally asked with a small smile on his lips

"Just something I felt I had to do"

As soon as they separated they went down stairs

"Alright now that I'm all patched up we can talk about what just happened" said Tenten as she slowly sat down on the couch

"What I want to know the most is how you knew the bomb was there" said Shikamaru from the couch opposite hers.

"I didn't know it was there until just before it went off. There was a very feint smell in the air and that smell comes from a Pressure Dependent Explosive."

"What's a Pressure Dependent Explosive?" asked Neji

"It's a twenty millimetre round bomb that goes off when the correct pressure level is reached. Each bomb has its own pressure level for detonation to occur, making it one of the most difficult bombs to defuse. The reason the Pressure Dependent Explosive—or P-D-E worked in Shikamaru's car was because of the cold weather. When all the doors and windows of a car are closed the pressure outside and inside the car is very different. The cold evening making the air in the car colder created a cold high pressure system and that activated the bomb. Just before the bomb goes off it releases a colourless and almost undetectable smoke."

"Wait if it's undetectable then how did you smell it?" asked Shikamaru

"I never said it was undetectable, I said it was _almost_ undetectable. It can only be picked up by dogs like Bloodhounds and German Shepherds. It smells quite similar to hydrogen gas. It can also be picked up by specialists who have trained with every weapon and explosive for at the last ten years" she pointed to herself with a confident smile

"Now getting back to the bomb, the instant the pressure is disturbed the bomb goes off; so in your case, the second you opened the door you set it off."

"But how did the person time it so perfectly that it would go off the next time Shikamaru tried to open his car?" Hinata thought out loud

"I thought the same thing, if it was high pressure the bomb needed to detonate then it should have used up two hours minimum. Shikamaru where were you at around one a.m.?"

"I was still at the agency finishing off some work"

"That's it that's when the bomb was planted, either it was an inside job or he's infiltrated the agency"


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3: First Appearance_

"Infiltrated the agency; then what are we going to do about this? Do you think he's still at the agency right now?" asked Hinata

"It's possible but we can't just walk in there and start looking or else we'll just tip them off. This information has to stay between us and we need inform The Director." Said Neji

"Alright we'll head to Director Tsunade's office after we get some rest"

The four agents headed upstairs, Hinata and Tenten went back to their room and Shikamaru went to the guest room.

It was eight a.m. when the four of them were dressed and headed to Hinata's car. They got into her black Range Rover and drove to Akihabara. About half an hour later they arrived at the FIRE HQ main building. The building itself was an architectural wonder but to the outside world it looked like an incredibly wealthy business company. Not many people knew what really happened in the building. The first ten floors were actually business run-the agency had to get money from somewhere-making deals with banks and other tech companies. But the remaining sixty floors were all FIRE offices and facilities.

The agents walked into the building looking as professional as ever-they needed to look like they worked at the business company. Tenten was wearing white trousers, black Mary-Janes heels, and a white long sleeve button-up shirt with a black skinny tie and a navy peplum blazer.

Hinata wore a white pencil skirt, and a tucked in black button-up shirt and a red peplum blazer. She also had her hair tied up in a slick pony.

Neji wore a midnight-blue suit with a white button-up shirt and a black waist-coat and Shikamaru wore a black trousers and a matching trench coat.

They took the elevator straight to the Directors floor—the sixtieth floor and luckily for them no one seemed to need the elevator on their way up. But then again the organisation did have a lot of elevators so that was the other reason their elevator wasn't used.

One thing they were also really good at was quick changing. By the time they reached the sixtieth floor they were in completely different clothes, all of them looking a lot more casual. The elevator doors opened to the elaborate top floor with beige marble floors and skylights and floor-to-ceiling glass walls for the offices. They reached her office and the logo of the agency was in the centre in frosted glass.

Before they could enter her office a guard stopped them

"State your business" he said routinely

"We need to speak to Director Tsunade, it's concerning the case were working on, investigating the murder of agent Rock Lee."

"Alright you may proceed"

The four of them walked inside and knocked on her door.

"Come in" they heard her say on the other side of the door

Hinata opened the door and walked in first

"Director Tsunade we have some urgent information regarding the investigation and it jeopardises the safety of the organisation."

"It must be urgent if there are two agents from the Lightning Class here, what's going on?"

Tenten explained the whole story about the incident at the Hyuuga Manor

"I see and you think that they've infiltrated the agency or they've had help from the inside."

"Yes sir"

"Hmm…" she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes to mull things over "You four are to stay here for the day and keep an eye open but don't act too conspicuously. I want a report by the end of the day; don't gloss over the slightest detail, understood?

"Yes sir understood" the four agents said in unison then left her office

"Alright guys so who's going where?" Shikamaru asked

"Well the agency is too large for the four of us to look out for, so I think we should stick to the area's we usually work at. So Tenten you stay at the Weapons Division, Shikamaru and I go to the Intelligence Division and Hinata at the Tracker Unit."

"Alright sounds like a plan and we'll stay in contact with our ear-coms." Just as Tenten finished speaking the elevator doors opened on their floor and they went their separate ways.

Hinata swiped her ID card into the door and walked in to the facility and immediately changed into her training outfit which consisted of a white sports bra and black three-quarter pants with a white stripe going up the outside of her legs, and paired the outfit with black and white sneakers. She went to a punching bag and went full force at it. Not just punches but kicks as well and after a few minutes she was lost in thought, hitting the punching bag while on auto-pilot.

As a member of the Tracking Unit she needed to be in top shape, because another part of being part of the Tracker Unit was pursuing the target as well and often the target will try to escape.

After two hours of training she'd worked up quite a sweat and decided to take a break. Someone took a seat next to her

"It's been a while since I've seen you go at it like that Panther" said her very close friend Kiba Inuzuka-top tracker in the entire division, codename—Silver Wolf

"Yeah well I was just letting off some steam"

"Something bothering you?"

"Nothing in particular, just this case in general"

"I got ya"

"I just want to know who did this and why"

"I think that goes for everyone" she rested her head on his shoulder for a while but she never forgot that she was still on duty, looking for the killer. The two of them then went over to the tatami mats and sparred for a while.

One p.m. arrived, majority of the agents had left the division to go get something to eat and that's when the two agents concluded their sparring match. As he delivered his final kick which she blocked he ended up tripping and falling taking her with him. He landed on top of her; they both looked into each other's eyes as they tried to catch their breath.

She looked up at him with her pearly white eyes and cupped his cheek. Was this real? Was this really happening? She did still have feelings for Naruto but for some reason he wasn't on her mind at that moment. She knew from the beginning that Kiba had feelings for her but she didn't know how she felt about him…until she found herself leaning in. If she thought of him as just a friend she wouldn't have gone this far and yet if she felt something more…

She propped herself on her elbows and closed her eyes as Kiba leaned in as well. He gently pressed his lips against hers; Hinata had butterflies in her stomach and smiled against his lips before he slowly pulled away.

He then stood up and helped her to her feet when someone walked in.

"Am I interrupting you guys?" came the blond hair, blue eyed agent

"Not at all Dragon" she answered

While he might not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, he wasn't born yesterday. Close physical contact and she was flustered obviously meant that something happened between them.

"If you say so" not believing them and looking at them with menacing eyes

Shikamaru sat at his desk thinking, the possibility of finding one person among thousands of agents was next to impossible, especially someone who has inside information about three agents namely Neji's team. One had already been eliminated and the remaining two were on high alert but still very much in danger. They didn't know what he looked like, sounded like or anything, they had absolutely nothing on him but he had everything on them. And he's either in the building or receiving help from someone inside. He couldn't imagine anyone helping out someone that's killed one of their own but then again, he could be forcing someone to help him out.

"Dammit, I can't figure this out" he leaned his head back in his chair and closed his eyes

"Navy Lightning are you alright?" asked Ino as she walked into the room

"Yeah I'm fine, just a little tired" he looked up at her and noticed something different.

Ino wasn't wearing her necklace; it was a diamond cherry on a silver chain. He got it for her birthday two years ago and she'd worn it everyday since. Literally everytime he saw her she had it on. When he gave it to her she was so elated she said she'd wear it all the time.

"Flame what happened to your necklace?"

"Oh…I forgot to put it on today"

That was a lie she'd never forget to put it on. Could the enemy somehow be controlling her? It was a possibility but he didn't want to tip off the enemy that he was on to his little trick so he dropped the situation immediately.

" _I won't ask her too much but I'll definitely put this in the report, somethings up and it's not just the necklace not being there, she's not as bubbly as she usually is. She's a lot more reserved, like she's a completely different person, but just to be sure…"_

"You buy that outfit yesterday? I've never seen it before." He asked

"Yeah I'm glad you noticed"

"How could I not when I know how much you don't enjoy shopping"

"Well I really liked this outfit so I quickly bought it, because you know how much I dislike shopping"

" _Gotcha, shopping is like breathing to Ino. She can't live without it, not to mention Ino wore this outfit a week ago, it isn't new. Looks like our little friend didn't do his homework properly. It looks like he only has information on Neji and Tenten then but not the rest of us, which makes it a little easier I guess."_

"Well I gotta go"

"Where to?"

"I need to give Neji the briefing for his next assignment, Director Tsunade asked me to give it to him." He walked out of the room and saw Neji heading his way

" _And if I'm right you'll try to wipe the information I have on you from my laptop, but unfortunately for you I have it all backed up"_

"White Lightning we need to talk but not in there, it involves the insider" the two of them walked back to the elevator. He explained everything.

"So you suspect that she's the one helping our enemy?"

"Well yes and no, she's clearly changed but I don't think it's by choice I think she's being controlled. If it were as simple as her just working for him; appearance and personality wise she would've remained the same to avoid being suspected"

"You're right we need consider that he can somehow control people" Neji thought for a second "Alright keep an eye on her she might return to normal. Also the enemy might have the power to control multiple people at the same time"

"Alright I'm heading back" Shikamaru said

"Okay I'll warn Tenten"

Neji took the elevator upstairs to meet Tenten at the Weapons Division. As soon as he arrived he heard thudding sounds coming from one of the training studios, he walked in to find Tenten doing target practice with her senbon.

"Working as hard as ever Black Smoke"

"Just thinking…made any progress with regards to…"

"Yes actually that's why I'm here. Navy Lightning has just discovered something." He filled her in on everything but little did they know that someone was listening in on their conversation with a smirk on their face.

"Wow really? Well that's good and bad news I guess. They know everything about us but nothing on anyone else"

"White Lightning, Black Smoke, Panther…"

"We're here; what's the problem Navy Lightning?" Tenten responded

"No problem, Flame has returned to normal and she doesn't seem to remember what happened to her in the time she was acting differently"

"I'm on my way" said Neji and just as he finished speaking the surveillance cameras all turned off

"What the…all the cameras died or someone disconnected the cable"

"You don't think…" Neji started

"It's possible, but you go I'll check it out"

"Are you going to be alright here by yourself?"

"Yeah don't worry; I'll take care of everything" she smiled at him

He gave her one last look before he left

The room was silent after his footsteps faded away. Tenten immediately went to the connection box of the surveillance cameras—the lines had been cut as well as the com-links for the Weapons Division which meant that she couldn't call for back-up if the need arose, which meant only one thing—

She wasn't alone in the room; the enemy was with her at that very moment…

"Is Flame alright?" asked Neji as he walked in to find Hinata and Shikamaru sitting with her.

"Yeah but she's unconscious now, she returned to normal and started asking where she was and what she was doing, meaning she has no idea what just happened"

"So far she's been the only one who's acted strangely right?"

"Well actually Dragon was acting a little strange as well, he was incredibly serious and he looked at me and Silver Wolf with this menacing expression on his face. And he only stayed for a few seconds like he was looking for something that he obviously couldn't find in the Tracker Division, so he left"

"Any idea where he went?"

"No he didn't say anything"

Neji leaned against the desk and thought for a moment until the answer hit him

"I think I know where he's headed"

"What do you mean?"

Tenten heard footsteps so she turned to see who it was with a kunai ready in her hands

"Oh it's you Dragon" she sighed in relief

"Who were you expecting?" he asked seriously

"I was…never mind. If you're looking for White Lightning you've just missed him. He's with Navy Lightning—

"Actually I came to see you" he said in a low voice and walked towards her

"Just before I came here I was with Black Smoke and the surveillance cameras went down. What if they were taken out by the imposter—?

"If that's the case then she's in danger" Shikamaru said in a panicked tone

"What? Why?" asked Hinata

"Because the surveillance cameras and the com-links are on the same circuit board. If the imposter wanted to isolate himself with her without being caught on video or there being any chance of her calling for back-up, he'd cut both lines. And if you left her when the cameras went down and Dragon is headed there now then that means…"

"He's all alone with her" Hinata finished

Neji swore under his breath "I'm going after him" and he left the room before anyone else could say another word

"You came to see me, what for?" she asked growing anxious, something about the way he was looking at her almost like she was the prey. He stopped right in front of her and stared down at her with intimidating eyes, so much so that she broke eye contact. Her heart was racing in her chest.

"It's a very important message and I want to make sure I convey it to you properly" he put his hands on her hips

She froze, Naruto would never do this, this isn't him, or rather the behaviour isn't his, and he's being controlled. A smirk grew on his lips.

"I see you've finally caught on. Naruto would never behave like this" he leaned in even closer until his lips were practically hovering over hers for a few seconds until he grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back and kissed her, she tried to push him off but he held on to her body. He separated from her then leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Did you think that you had the upper hand, that I wouldn't catch on to what the four of you were doing? Trying to figure out who the imposter was without informing any of the other agents. Let me give you a hint, I'm nobody and everybody." He then pulled away from her

"What have you done to Naruto?" she said with tears coming down her cheeks

"If I told you that then I wouldn't've given you the hint. I want you to figure it out" he looked down at his watch "Well it looks like my time here is up, I'll see you again Tenten and I'll face in another person you know…" just then Naruto fell to the ground unconscious and Tenten fell to her hands and knees then to the ground unconscious as well

"…ake up…wake up Tenten" she slowly opened her eyes and saw Neji above her. She sat up and looked around the room; she was still in the Weapons Division. She suddenly remembered what had just happened and looked to the side and found Naruto sitting in a chair looking disorientated.

"Are you alright?" Neji asked

"Yeah I'm fine just a little shaken up"

"What happened?"

"The imposter got to Naruto, he was controlling him he whole time. He purposely confronted me because he'd already caught on that we were looking for him. He—or rather—he made Naruto tell me that he wants me to figure how he does what he does. And the last thing he said to me was a hint about how he controls people; he said he's nobody and everybody and that he'll face me using someone else's body I know."

"I…what?" Naruto asked completely stunned

Xxx

Tenten was in her room, she decided to spend the night in her room at the agency rather then return to her apartment. She heard a knock at her door

"Naruto…is there something wrong?" she let him in

He looked incredibly remorseful, there was definitely something bothering him

"I-I just wanted to apologise…for what happened this afternoon" he was shaking

"Naruto there's nothing to apologise for, it wasn't you doing all of that. You didn't have a choice and besides I'm fine you didn't hurt me too badly or anything—

"But what if I did?" tears came down his cheeks "I let that monster control me and I could've hurt you"

She hugged him; he needed to know that everything was alright. She knew what he was going through; she'd been in his position feeling nothing but regret. After a while he hugged her back. He blamed himself for what happened but he wasn't supposed to and she wasn't going to let him.

"It's alright Naruto…it's alright" she hugged him a little tighter


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4: First Assault_

Tenten woke up in her room at the agency. She stretched and went to take a shower, ten minutes later she stepped out of the shower and back into her bedroom when she heard a knock at her door.

"Just a sec" she yelled as she put on her night gown "Alright come in" she watched the door open and saw her teammate walk in

"White Lightning what are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on you, see if you're alright"

"Yeah I'm fine; I mean I was a little shaken up after the incident but nothing serious"

"I see, that's good to hear" he faced the other way as he saw her open her wardrobe meaning that she was changing

"Is there any chance that you came to see me for another reason?" she asked as she put on her navy jeans, white crop top and black blazer with gold buttons

He sighed…

"I found this addressed to you, obviously it's from the killer" he handed her the white envelope with her name written on it. She was afraid if what was on the inside. She didn't know what to expect as she opened the envelope. There was a folded paper inside-a photo-with a message written on the front _'Your suffering has just begun'._ She unfolded the photo and was horrified at the picture; it was a close-up picture of her dead parents. She froze at the sight of it—her heart raced in her chest and tears immediately welled up in her eyes blurring her vision. Tenten fell to her knees trying to calm herself down. Neji took the picture from her and he held her in his arms as she cried. Based on her reaction and what she told him; he figured out that it was a picture of her parents after they'd been killed.

' _And all it got me was watching my parents get killed in front of me'_ he remembered her words

"Your parents?" he asked softly

"Yeah" she whispered back wiping away the tears "Sorry I just need to be alone for a bit" she broke away from him and left the room before he could say another word

Xxx

Neji walked into the Intelligence Division and was about to sit at his desk when Ino called him over, she was sitting with Shikamaru.

"Is there a particular reason that Tenten's in tears?" she asked him seriously

"Yes this arrived for her, it's from the killer"

She read the note and opened the photo

"Oh my gosh! There's so much blood" Ino exclaimed

"Who are they?" Shikamaru asked

"Tenten's parents"

Both of them looked up at him in shock.

"I knew they were deceased but I never knew they were murdered"

"Do you know where she is?" Neji asked

"She's on the training grounds for the Weapons Division"

The clouds were rolling in—a storm was about to start when Neji walked outside in search of Tenten. He'd walked for a few minutes deeper into the training grounds of the agency when it started drizzling. He'd finally found her, she was sitting high up in a tree in the centre of the training grounds. He made his way up with no difficulties

"I thought I'd find you here" he stood on the branch next to hers

"We used to come here all the time during our trainee days" she managed a weak smile

"After a few hours of training with Gai sensei…and Lee"

"Things just keep getting more and more serious; first he kills Lee, then he can control people and now he hits me with something I wished I'd never see again and for what; we're barely any closer to finding out who did this and why than we were in the beginning" she started crying then Neji sat next to her and put his arms around her

"I know I shouldn't ask but…what happened to them, your parents?"

She sighed

"It happened when I was eight. Both of my parents were cops although my mom retired young and stayed home with me. My father had just busted a serious drug circle and put the gang members in prison and the police department was having a celebration that my parents were going to attend…"

An eight year old Tenten helped her mother put on her make-up and watched as her father got his car keys and went downstairs.

"Ryowa's on her way over, she's going to look after you while your father and I are out alright?" she smiled and placed Tenten in her lap. Tenten smiled and nodded enthusiastically in response

The doorbell rang

"Oh that's probably her now" she stood up and carried Tenten with her to the bedroom door when they heard a gunshot. Her mother put her down and told her to hide under the bed while she went to check on her father. She made her way downstairs and walked into the living room to find her husband in a pool blood. He hadn't only been shot but hacked with an axe. She looked around the room for any signs of the perpetrators but she turned around too late and was struck on her shoulder with the axe and fell to floor.

Tenten heard her mother's screams from downstairs followed by a loud thud on the ground. She tried as hard as possible to stay quiet but she couldn't stop the tears rushing down her cheeks.

"I think that's it sir, there's no one else coming down" one of the men said

"No you're wrong, they have a daughter, find her and bring her down here" said their leader

Tenten's heart sank to her stomach, she heard the footsteps grow louder and louder as they came upstairs and eventually into her parent's bedroom. She saw two pairs of feet walking around the room. She froze when they both stopped in front of the bed. Before she could even blink, the bed had been flipped over and one of the men picked her up by her hair and dragged her downstairs.

Nothing could prepare her for what she saw—her father lay dead in a pool of blood and her mother-still alive-was bleeding from her shoulder and had bruises on her face.

"And who is this little girl?" the leader walked over to her mother and held a gun against her temple as he asked with a wicked grin on his face

"Please, please don't hurt her, I'm begging you" her mother cried

He cocked his gun and pushed it harder against her skin

"That's not what I asked; I asked who she is, what's her name?"

"Tenten, her name is Tenten"

"Isn't that a pretty name" he walked over to her "Well Tenten I want to teach you something. I'm going to teach you what happens to people who get involved in other people's business when they shouldn't. Make sure she gets a proper view boys." Said the leader as he walked right in front of her mother and aimed directly at her head

The two men in question brought Tenten to her mother's side and made her watch as the leader pulled the trigger on her mother multiple times. Tenten was screaming and crying as each gunshot was fired. By the time he stopped firing her mother looked almost unrecognisable just covered in bloody holes.

"Now Tenten I hope you remember this lesson in the afterlife" he turned his gun on her and aimed. Tenten closed her eyes and covered her ears and waited for the inevitable but it never came as the police burst through the door and quickly apprehended the three men.

One of the female officers took her outside and sat with her while the rest of the team took care of everything inside. After that she was taken to the station and waited for her aunt to pick her up—she'd been brought up to speed about the situation. From that day she'd been living with her aunt and cousin out of town. She'd sometimes forget how serious the situation was and ask when her parents would pick her up, leaving her aunt with the difficult task of explaining to an eight year old that her parents weren't coming to pick her up and that they were gone.

It took a few years but eventually Tenten accepted that her parents were dead and that her life would never be the same again.

She closed her eyes and rested her head against Neji's shoulder. He looked outward trying to gather his thoughts. He thought he knew everything about Tenten but he'd just realised that he knew very little about her childhood and her family life, all he knew was that her parents were dead but he never would've imagined that they were brutally murdered in front of her when she was no more than eight years old. She told him that they were killed back when the investigation was still in its first week but she hadn't gone into the details. And yet despite all that she'd been through she was easily one of the kindest and happiest people he knew, clearly she didn't let her past keep her from living her life—she did that all on her own. She was a lot stronger than he'd given her credit for and he'd definitely given her credit. With all the serious injuries she'd given him during their training, he'd had to acknowledge her.

A bolt of lightning broke him from his thoughts

"I think we should get down from this tree before lightning decides to strike it" he said

The two of them headed back to the agency just before the rain came down harder. They were back in Tenten's room with coffee watching the rain come down.

"Listen Neji…I know we're still on assignment and everything but—

"You should take the rest of the day off, you've just been forced to relive something traumatic and you wouldn't be able to focus. So stay here, I'll clear everything up with The Director" he cut her off to say what they were both thinking

"Thank you"

"Of course" he stood up and headed to the door and she walked with him "I should get back to the Intelligence Division…if you need anything—

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, he was slightly taken aback

"I could really use a hug" she said with her eyes closed

He eventually put his arms around her and held her like he never wanted to let go

"You're an amazing friend you know that?" she broke the silence

"And you're a lot stronger than I give you credit for, you're pretty amazing yourself" he held her a little tighter then let go before leaving.

Xxx

It was ten p.m. and most of the agents had gone home for the evening, Neji was one of the last few to leave. After he said goodnight to Tenten-who decided to stay in her room at the agency-he drove off in his black Mercedes. Half way home he stopped at a red light and noticed two completely black cars with tinted windows stop on either side of his car, he immediately became suspicious and drove off as soon as the light turned green. The two mysterious cars kept up to speed with him and before he could even react, the windows rolled down and gunshots were fired. Luckily for him all the agents had completely bulletproof cars but the assailants didn't stop there, they wedged his car between theirs and drove at full speed off the road and straight into a tree.

The windscreen shattered in front of him and he seriously whip-lashed and banged his head against the roof of the car that caved in. the two cars drove away immediately—leaving him for dead. The last thing he saw was his bloody reflection in a shard of mirror and the plume of smoke from the burning engine before blacking out.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5: Enough is Enough_

The next morning she rushed into the hospital and found his room—she had to see him.

"Neji, are you alright?!" she frantically asked "How did this happen?"

"Tenten I'm fine calm down"

"You have two cracked ribs and suffered serious head trauma, you're not okay"

"I'm not dead am I?" he looked her in the eyes

"That's not funny"

"I wasn't joking. If he wanted me dead then those subordinates would've come out of their cars and finished me off"

"Maybe they thought you were already dead"

"Not possible Tenten; criminals can't afford a mistake that big. Killing me was never a part of the plan-at least not this time. The plan was to draw you out and I was the bait"

"What are you talking about?"

"Forensics found this in my car, it's addressed to you" he handed her the note

 _Tenten we meet again, I said I'd see you in someone else's body you know but I found this method to be more entertaining. Sending the man you love to the hospital was the perfect way for me to draw you out. Now that you know that I'm someone from your past, the game is nearly over and it's time to end it"_

"That's it, enough is enough. He wants my attention so badly-he's got it. I'm finishing this mission."

"Tenten stop reacting-that's just what he wants, he wants you angry. Not to mention you can't do this alone, only members of the Lightning Class can do solo missions. You'll have to wait until I've recovered"

"And while I sit around and wait he could strike again and succeed in killing you!" she was fed with not being able to do anything

"Tenten stop being so naïve, he wants you to suffer alone! Killing me isn't the only way to do that and he's using that advantage to get you to try and kill him, because he knows that if you try to take revenge on him and kill him, you'll be removed from the agency immediately and sworn to absolute secrecy. You'll never be able to contact any of us ever again—isolating you completely"

He was right and she knew it. She sat down in the chair beside his bed and rested her head on her hands.

"I just…don't know what to do, we're both still in danger and you're stuck in here for who knows how long?"

"Tenten just relax, I'll be out of here soon. You don't need to worry about me"

"I know, you're probably the last person I should be worrying about…" she smiled at him "Alright I'm heading back to the agency, I've got some work I need to finish" she stood up and looked at him for a while and held his hand

"Tenten—?" she interrupted him with a gentle kiss then broke away a few seconds later "What was that for?" he asked quite confused by her boldness

"I'm just really glad you're okay" she spoke softly before she left

Xxx

Tenten was in the Intelligence Division—she'd just shown Shikamaru the note found in Neji's car

"Well this is an interesting twist on things" he said as he finished reading the note

"Does this mean that the first not was a lie?"

"It's hard to say but I doubt it. He could just be trying to distract you, why didn't he just send this note to you in the first place? Why change the game now? No I definitely think he wants to divert your attention with this new note. Are you sure you don't remember what he looks like?"

"I've been trying as hard as I can to remember but all I can think of is brown hair and that's not much help since all three suspects-who visited the night club-have brown hair"

"Alright don't push yourself, we'll figure this out"

Ino waked in and sat next to Shikamaru

"Hey Tenten, you seem back to your old self. You coping alright?"

"Yeah I'm doing a lot better-or I was until Neji ended up in the hospital"

"Can I talk to you for a minute-outside?" Ino stood up and walked out the room with Tenten following closely behind

"So what's up?" Tenten asked as they stopped in an empty corridor

"I don't know, you tell me?"

"What are you talking about? You're the one that called me out here"

"Because I know that you were lying in there, you're not okay, so I brought you out here to talk-so talk"

Tenten sighed heavily

"I guess I can't lie to my friends" she weakly smiled "Alright I'm not alright, I feel like I'm hanging on by a thread. First the picture of my dead parents was sent to me and then this, Neji in the hospital. He's been there for me every step of the way-whenever I needed him"

"Have you told that to him?"

"More or less, I mean we're just friends"

"Why don't you tell him already, how you really feel about him. You two have kissed-a hell of a lot of times-amongst other things and you don't do that with your 'just friend' so why not make it official?"

"I don't know if I want to go that far with him. I'm comfortable with what we have now-whatever it is"

"Do you care about him?"

"Undeniably"

"Do you trust him?"

"With my life"

"So then?"

"The problem isn't him it's me; I mean do I even deserve him. Throughout this case and every other time he's worried for me and looked out for me"

"Because he cares about you probably as much as you do him. Tenten, you obviously haven't seen the way he looks at you. There isn't a single doubt in my mind that he's crazy about you but he's staying back out of consideration of your feelings. He wants to go there but he's unsure if you do"

"Alright I'll try talk to him but not now. I feel like this killer has taken everything away from me and Neji is all I have left and now he's trying to take that from me too. I'm literally at my wits end; I can't do this alone anymore" Tenten was holding back her tears

"You should never have been facing this alone in the first place" Ino walked over and hugged Tenten

"I didn't want to get you guys involved in my past; it's messed up enough I don't need to drag you guys down with me"

"Tenten we're all agents together but more than that we're you're friends and we'll be there for you no matter what the dangers"

"I know, I think I just let myself forget that…forget what amazing friends I have"

Sasuke was standing just out of earshot and caught most of the conversation. He'd always know that she had feelings for Neji but actually hearing her say it hurt him a lot more than he thought and a lot more than it should've.

It was late afternoon when Sasuke went to the hospital to see Neji. He walked into the pure white room and found Neji reading a book before he noticed him.

"Uchiha, well isn't this a surprise? I presume you're not here for a friendly visit judging by the serious look on your face"

"No I'm not; I'm here to talk about Tenten"

"What about her?" Neji sat upright

"You need to get it together and just talk to her about your feelings because she is literally ready to snap worrying about you but she's confused about where she stands with you"

"I don't see what any of this has to do with you. What is she confused about?"

"That's a conversation you need to have with her. I'm here talking to you because-to put it bluntly- I'm pissed off that you've got her worrying this much about you. All this seems one sided. If you really cared about her it wouldn't take you this long to tell her that"

"Watch what you say Uchiha if I didn't know any better it would look as though you're the one with romantic feelings for her but you're too much of a coward to tell her"

"Are you talking about me or yourself? And so what if I did have feelings for her romantically you're not in a relationship with her therefore you have no say on who she ends up with, because you and I both know that she has feelings for us both"

"True but I'm not the one who broke her trust and her heart when you left the agency for three years, and only I, Shikamaru and the Director know what happened during those three years"

"She already forgave me for that" Sasuke spoke through gritted teeth

"Maybe but she still doesn't trust you one hundred percent, she still gets slightly anxious when you go on long missions"

"Don't try to put all this on me we're talking about you right now. You-Neji Hyuuga, who's been on plenty of solo missions, infiltrated some of the most secure places on earth along with Shikamaru and I—you've put your damn life on the line how many times now, but you can't even tell Tenten how you feel about her!"

"Oh and what makes you so different? You think I don't notice how you look at her whenever you're with her but you haven't said anything to her either. So don't you dare come here with your accusations when you're in the same boat as me. You can't compete with me; Tenten will never fully trust you again especially if she were to find out what you'd done during your three years away"

"Is that a threat?"

"If it were you'd know it. Don't forget what your actions put Shikamaru and me through. Her feelings for you aren't genuine"

"Hn, even though I've kissed her" Sasuke said triumphantly and savoured the look of outrage on Neji's face "You heard me, I kissed Tenten and she did nothing to resist me"

"That doesn't mean anything"

"You're right usually it wouldn't, if she hadn't kissed me right back. Face it Hyuuga, she loves both of us, and it's only a matter of time until she chooses one of us" and with that final remark Sasuke left Neji's hospital room quite satisfied with himself and the outcome of the conversation with Neji. He'd managed to injure Neji's pride.

Neji sat up in bed still contemplating his conversation with Sasuke—he'd made a valid point, the two of them did get along very well and spent a lot of time together, he wouldn't be surprised if Tenten did have feelings for Sasuke and that very thought was enough to make him angry. Whether he wanted to admit it or not Neji had very strong feelings for Tenten and since the two of them were teammates and spent a lot of time together themselves he knew she had feelings for him-the fact that they've kissed so many times-amongst other things-surely suggests that.

He had trouble falling asleep that night; he definitely needed to talk to her in the morning.

The following morning Tenten went to see Neji in the hospital-the moment of truth had arrived

"Tenten I need to ask you something"

"Okay…" she sat on the edge of his bed "What's up?" she could see that something was bothering him

"Do you love him?" he bluntly asked because he was tired of not knowing how she felt anymore

"Love who?"

"Uchiha, do you love him?"

"What? What are you talking about?" she was completely perplexed

"Don't answer my question with a question" he said quite sharply

"Well of course I love him, he's my friend"

"That's not what I meant!"

"What brought this on all of a sudden?" she couldn't understand why he was getting so upset and then it dawned on her "He came here didn't he? And he told you that we kissed?"

"I shouldn't have had to find out from him, you should have told me"

"And why is that, it's not like we're dating or anything-you have no right to feel betrayed"

"Given our relationship—"

"Relationship, Ha!" she bitterly laughed "You and I have been friends and teammates for years and we've fooled around with each other more than a few times but we were never anything official"

"You need to get your feelings straight because someone is going to end up getting hurt"

"And you don't think that that person could be me?! You've never made it easy for me Neji; I've never known where I stand with you. I've made it abundantly clear that I have feelings for you but did you ever say anything, and you wonder I'm so confused"

"And of all people to turn to you go running to him" he said bitterly

"It is neither my fault nor my problem that you have issues with Sasuke, he's my best friend and I will talk to him regardless of your feelings towards him."

"Well it sounds to me that you're getting more than a conversation out of this"

"Oh so what you think that everytime you and I have a fight, I go and sleep with him to forget my problems!" this was absolutely unbelievable "Do you really think that little of me Neji?" she was beyond furious but she could feel the tears stinging the corners of her eyes, the fact that he trusted her so little devastated her "Well then let me increase your suspicions, I'm outta here" she stormed out of the room without another word

Tenten buried herself in work to distract herself from her argument with Neji; she was looking at the evidence collected on the first night of the investigation. The photos of Lee taken from different angles, Sakura's medical report of Lee and the one thing she couldn't avoid-Neji's analysis of the assault and murder. Even when trying to escape him by working, something would always pop up reminding her of him. She took a closer look at the photograph of Lee and something immediately jumped at her. There was a bruise on Lee's jawline as well as an indentation on the skin-it looked like it could have come from a ring. As soon as Tenten could make out the symbol, she knew exactly who was responsible but to be sure she left her desk immediately to find Sakura.

"I wasn't able to match the symbol to any gang or organisation in our database" said Sakura as she looked at the photo again

"That's because this is a deviant from the original. The symbol in this picture is three number one's arranged to form a triangle and a number one in the middle and the original symbol was five number one's arranged to form a pentagon with a number one in the middle"

"How did you figure out that this was a deviant from the original and not a new gang altogether?"

"As soon as I saw the picture I started remembering the night my parents were killed, all three of the men were wearing rings with the original symbol and when you look at them both they pretty much mean the same thing. The pentagon and the triangle both enclose a number one in the centre, meaning that everyone comes together to hold up one central person-a leader"

"The 'All is one' gang" Sakura put it together

"Exactly, and I think the leader is the one with the power to control people"

"So we just need to figure out who the leader is"

"That won't be very easy; every person in the organisation has a cyanide cap on their back molar so if any of them ever get caught they kill themselves with the cyanide. Not to mention the structuring of the gang is pretty tight because it goes: the leader with his three subordinates-who have never seen each other or the leader-and they have their own troops. So no one knows any further up the chain than their sub-leader"

"Man this is going to be tough"

"And we're going to need as much help as we can get, I'll go inform the others of the new information" Tenten left the room

Xxx

Tenten was back at her apartment but not the one in the agency. She'd just finished taking a shower and walked back into her room to get dressed. Just as she put her shorts on she-without looking behind her-caught a kunai that was aimed at her head and immediately threw it back in the direction it came from. Her attacker revealed himself and came at her full force.

He tried to punch her but she caught his wrist and kicked in the shin—he quickly recovered and punched her in the stomach and grabbed her by the hair and holding one of her arms behind her back. She immediately stepped on his foot, elbowed him in the stomach, front flipped over him and kicked him in the back. He fell to the ground but quickly stood up and pulled a chain out his pocket and managed to wrap it around her wrist and started pulling. Tenten resisted and for a few seconds they were in deadlock, both of them pulled with the same force but Tenten stepped on the chain making him fly forwards towards her to which she responded with a kick to the face, he back flipped then came at her again but Tenten was already running towards him-she slid between his legs, stood up then swept her leg under his knocking him off his feet then punching him to the ground. He was unconscious.

Tenten-breathing heavily pulled the mask off his face and as soon as she did it all came rushing to her. She remembered the face of the man who killed her mother—she remembered everything.

Ten minutes after calling Shikamaru, he had arrived with the others—namely Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata.

"So you know who this man is?" asked Shikamaru

"I'm absolutely certain, he was there at my house, one of the two men who found me hiding under my parent's bed and brought me downstairs. He was always with the leader so once I saw his face I immediately remembered how the leaders face looked"

"Are you sure you'll be able to ID him though I mean you saw him thirteen years ago?"

"True his appearance will have changed with time but I'll know him when I see him, did you bring the suspect photos?"

Sasuke handed them to her, she focused on each of the three suspects faces and then she remembered

"It's him, the one with the long hair and square jaw"

"Are you sure?" Hinata asked

"Absolutely…wait a second…" she took a closer look at the picture he seemed very familiar as though she'd seen him quite recently

"What is it Tenten?"

"Hey doesn't he look…like Koji?" she said surprising everyone in the room "Or is it just me?"

Sasuke pulled up a photo of Koji from back at the night club and he did indeed look like him.

"He was wearing a disguise at the nightclub but there's no mistaking that these pictures are of the same person" said Shikamaru

"He's been a step ahead of us this entire time. If he was posing as Koji at the nightclub then he knows what we took and who we spoke to. We were probably at his gang's base of operations and we literally walked right through the front door." Sasuke added in

"Wait if he was Koji then doesn't that mean that he was the one in two places at once?" Hinata asked a little shaky

"Just what the hell are we dealing with here?" asked Tenten as the rest of them tried to take in the new information.

Xxx

It was midnight-all the agents had left for the night. Tenten was by herself in the Intelligence Division, using the satellite tracker and ID scanner to look for the leader of the gang. After a few minutes of searching she found a match.

"The abandoned armoury, huh?" she said aloud

"Tenten?"

"Shikamaru, I didn't see you. Were you able to figure out what happened to the rest of his gang?"

"No not yet I'm still working on it. What are you doing here so late?"

"I just wanted to get a head start on finding the leader of the gang so I came here"

"By yourself? Without informing anyone else? You're not thinking of going after him alone are you?"

"No of course not, I just want to wrap up this case" she looked him straight in the eyes

"I'll take your word for it" he said as he watched her leave then pulled out his cellphone "Hey Sasuke sorry for the wake-up call but I think we're about to have ourselves a situation"

Three a.m. and it was pouring with rain-Tenten stood on a rooftop in front of the abandoned armoury. She shot a cable across and zip-lined in through one of the open windows. There was someone on the ground floor in front of a laptop. She jumped off the balcony and landed in the centre of the room-the man noticed her

"Tenten…I was wondering when you'd track me here" he stood up from his chair and walked into the light. Any doubts she had were cleared, the man standing in front of her was the man who'd killed her mother and forced her to watch. She pulled her katana from its sheath…

"Our meeting was long overdue" she spoke through gritted teeth and clutched her sword as hard as she could


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6: In Memory of…_

It was an overcast, rainy Saturday morning a day after the investigation started-two days after Lee was found dead. Tenten had just arrived at the agency-dressed in a knee length A-line black zip up dress with cut outs on the back accompanied by plum lipstick and her hair left loose and black heels-and made her way upstairs to the team meeting room. As she walked in she found Neji-looking sharp as ever in a black suit- standing by the window watching the rain come down. It would definitely take her a while to get used seeing the room with one less person. Usually when she walked in she'd see Neji _and_ Lee, but that wasn't the case anymore.

Lee was gone.

She walked over to the window and stood next to him but didn't say a word. And for the next few minutes, that's how it was between them-standing in silence and yet they seemed to know what the other was thinking. The sound of the door opening broke them from their thoughts.

"Hey guys we need to start heading down" said Naruto who stood in the doorway then headed out

Just as Neji was about to leave Tenten held on to his sleeve

"I don't know if I can do this" she looked up at him tearfully

"Don't worry; I'll be up there with you"

They took the elevator down to the ground floor and headed to the gravesite of all the fallen agents. Director Tsunade spoke first, about his service to the agency and his invaluable contribution. As soon as she finished Team Guy made their way to the platform where Tenten addressed the people.

"This was quite a devastating blow, not just to Team Guy but to the entire agency. Lee was one of the bravest and most enthusiastically determined people I knew. He didn't just bring his skills to agency but heart as well. If ever you needed a friend to cheer you up, a colleague to help you out or a brother-figure to talk to, Lee was the one and only" she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes

"Lee I'll never forget…" she could feel the lump at the back of her throat, she had to take a breath to keep going "I'll never forget everything you did for me and everything you taught me—" she paused again and that's when Neji walked up behind her and held her hand. She held on tight then continued speaking "You weren't just my teammate, you were my best friend and a brother to me, goodbye and I love you" she ended it there, any longer and she would immediately start crying hysterically.

Xxx

Everyone was back inside since it started raining heavily. They all had drinks and enjoyed the finger foods present. Neji and Tenten left early-after having a very emotional conversation with Lee's mother-to her apartment. There they sat together on the couch in front of the fire place and had a cup of tea.

"Thank you" she said quite softly

"For?" he looked at her with a raised brow

"Being up there with me today, I don't think could've done it without you" she rested her head on his shoulder and he put his arm around her. She sighed and closed her eyes before speaking

"I feel like the only absolute in life is loss. The older you get the more people you lose"

"That's a rather bleak way of looking at life, especially from you Tenten"

"I know but I can't help but feel this way, Lee really didn't deserve to go so young"

"Don't do this to yourself; try to find an acceptable reason for his death. No answer will ever satisfy you because you don't want to accept that he's gone"

"Are you speaking from personal experience?" she looked up at him and he remained quiet "I know I shouldn't ask but, what was it like for you… when you lost your father?"

"I was only four at that time, so it was the biggest shock I'd ever experienced. I really looked up to my father and I refused to accept that he was gone, that we'd no longer spend every afternoon together, or that he'd never see his son grow up" he kept his voice as neutral as he could but Tenten could tell that it was a difficult topic to talk about. And yet she was also quite surprised, Neji hardly ever spoke about his father, not even to her most of the time, so to hear him speak so openly to her was a great surprise for her. She took his hand in hers and held it tight.

"I think your father would be incredibly proud to see the man you've grown into Neji, it'd be hard not to be. I think you're pretty incredible." She looked up at him and he returned her gaze

She kissed him. She slowly put her arms around his neck and he around her waist. Their kiss was gentle yet passionate and after a while, they separated

"Not that I'm complaining or anything but what was that kiss for?"

"It's just a way for me to show you how much you mean to me" she smiled at him "You both mean a lot to me and thinking back we really underestimated Lee in certain areas" she chuckled

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know why but a conversation I had with Lee a while back just suddenly came back to me and we were talking about you and me together"

Flashback…

 _It had been two years since they'd joined the agency. The three of them were training—Tenten on weapons and Neji and Lee doing combat training. The sun beat down on them as they trained but it didn't stop them from going all out. Tenten was doing Shuriken target practice when suddenly she couldn't see the target very clearly and felt dizzy. She passed out._

 _Both Neji and Lee ran to her side and after a few minutes she woke up. She was resting against a tree in the shade._

" _Tenten are you alright?" asked Lee in a concerned voice_

" _Yeah I'm fine I just pushed myself a little too far I guess"_

" _You really should be a little more careful Tenten" Neji finally spoke up_

" _I will, I will" she sighed before picking up her bottle of water and drinking some_

 _After that the two guys went back to their training while Tenten rested. She still felt incredibly overheated so she took off her long sleeve shirt-leaving her in shorts and a sports bra- then closed her eyes for a while_

 _She watched her two teammates spar with each other; their movements were incredibly fast and done with precision. Their combat skills were in a league of their own. About an hour later they switched to target practise, Tenten always paid attention to Neji as he threw his shuriken-to see if he could do it as accurately as her. She was the best in the entire agency when it came to using weapons but that didn't meant that her friends weren't close to her level. As she watched him Lee came and sat next to her with a bottle of water in his hands._

" _It seems like I was right" he spoke up_

" _Right about what?"_

" _The fact that the two of you have feelings for each other" he took another sip of water_

" _That's not true Neji and I don't have feelings for each other" she tried her hardest to deny but the blush on her cheeks said otherwise_

" _Do not try to delude me into thinking that it is not true. I have seen the way you two look at each other when the other is not"_

" _That's stretching it a little don't you think?"_

" _Maybe but there's definitely a different atmosphere when the two of you are together regardless of whether I am present or not"_

" _Well we definitely didn't intend for that to happen, but really Lee what you're seeing isn't romantic feelings"_

" _What about what happened earlier then?"_

" _I'm pretty sure you were just as concerned as he was when I passed out"_

" _True but there was definitely something there and you cannot deny that. If you try to pass that off as nothing then you underestimate my intelligence"_

" _It's not your intelligence I underestimate believe me, it's just that you've never been one to pick up on these kinds of things" she chuckled_

" _It is not like you two were being very subtle about it" he chuckled as well "I have no doubt that the two of will end up together, one way or another" he put his hand on her shoulder_

" _I guess we'll have to wait and see then wont we?"_

 _End of Flashback_

"I never would have thought that of all people, Lee would be the one to notice anything between us" she smiled

"That's true; Lee's was never good at reading the situation when it came down to the dynamics of our group"

"Yeah, I mean remember how many times he'd tried to ask Sakura out when it was so clear that she liked Sasuke and yet on missions his perceptive powers are sharper than ever"

After that Tenten went to the kitchen and got two wine glasses and a bottle of wine from the fridge. Neji walked over to the kitchen and stood by the counter.

"Well since we're remembering him today; we should toast to him" she said as she poured for the both of them. They both raised their glasses:

"To Lee, an irreplaceable teammate and friend" she said and they both clashed their glasses before taking a sip

After they finished their wine Tenten looked at the time-ten p.m.

"Well I suppose I should head out, we've got a case to solve starting tomorrow" said Neji as he headed to the door

"Yeah and we need to give it our all" she held the door open for Neji "Goodnight Neji" she smiled and pat his shoulder

"Goodnight Tenten" he gave a final look before walking out the door and disappearing down the hallway

Tenten turned off the lights in the kitchen and living room and went straight to her bedroom where she changed into her sleepwear and lay in bed looking at the ceiling waiting for fatigue to take over. She thought about Lee for a moment then decided to think about something else because any good memories of him were changed to the memory of two nights ago when she saw his lifeless body on the ground. She turned to her side and turned off her bedside lamp and closed her eyes—for the night and to accept that her best friend was gone forever.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7: Trepidation_

The storm outside became more violent as Tenten glared at the man who killed her mother right in front her—immediately stripping her of her innocence. She clutched on to her katana as though for dear life. But the man in front of her wasn't intimidated by her at all, quite the opposite in fact, he looked at her with a smug look on his face almost as though he was glad to see her so livid.

"You're right Tenten we should have settled this a long time ago, but you've been a little difficult to find, almost as though you we're trying to avoid me" he said with a sadistic grin "So how are your parents doing—

She came at him with her katana but he blocked her with his own. They were deadlocked neither stronger than the other at that moment until Tenten released her katana causing the rather strong man to fall forward but not before Tenten landed a solid kick in his stomach. It took him a moment to recover then he stood up.

"That was a good kick; they teach you that at the agency?"

"I have nothing to say to you" she said acidly

"Fine then; come at me with everything that you've got" he said as he pulled out a second katana

And with that they went full force. Tenten too had a second katana; sparks flew in all directions as the two of them crossed swords with all of their strength. As the fight drew on Tenten got angrier and angrier—she attacked him with killing intent. Her heart thundered in her chest and she could feel all her pent up rage rushing to the surface and all she wanted to do was take it out on him. She back flipped over, kicked him in the back then swept her leg under his but he regained his balance. Tenten then used the hilt of her sword to jab him in the stomach before kneeing him in the stomach and throwing him over shoulder and slamming him to the ground.

But he wasn't injured enough to lose the fight—he swept his sword under her feet but she managed to jump, giving him the opportunity to grab her ankle when she landed and pull her down to the ground with him. He rolled to his side and tried to stab her with his other hand but Tenten rolled out of the way just in time. And in an instant there were two of him and just as Tenten was about to attack again one of them blew some powder at her face. Unfortunately only after she'd breathed it in did she realise that it was knock-out powder. She was unconscious.

A while later she woke up with a searing headache and discovered that her arms were chained up against a wall. She noticed he was working at his laptop and the keys to the chains that bound her—she assumed—were on his belt. And there was just one him.

"Ah you're finally awake Tenten." He walked over to her "You know I just realised that all this time we've known each other, I've never told you my name"

"I don't need to know the name of scum like you" she spat

"That hurts me Tenten it really does. It's Sabuza, Masaomi Sabuza." He walked closer to her

Tenten focused on the keys; they were her only hope of escaping and putting an end to this psycho. She needed to keep him talking.

"How did you do that during our fight, there were two of you?"

"Oh I doubt you'd be able to understand my methods" he whispered in her ear and pretty much pressed himself on top of her "Although I could just have you now before I kill you" the unmistakable look of lust was in his eyes and he began trailing kisses down her neck. Tenten tried to fight him off but he took out a smaller knife and stabbed it into the wall-a few centimetres away from her face

"Try to fight me off again and I slit your throat" he pressed the cold blade against her skin and held it against her neck

This time he hungrily attacked her lips; pressing her harder against the wall. One hand held the knife at her neck while the other felt her up and went under her shirt. As soon as he managed to unclip her bra she reacted instinctively and kneed him in the stomach and got the keys off his belt with the heel of her high heels. She kicked him away with her other foot and flipped up the wall until she was upside down and the front of her body was against the wall. She unlocked the chains and flipped back down and ran at full speed to Sabuza and elbowed him in the face. He'd managed to get a cut on her cheek before she sliced his arm leaving it limp. She grabbed him by the neck and slammed him to the ground.

"Before I finish you off, I need to know why. Why you killed them and ruined my life!" she screamed at him

"Your bastard of a father kept searching where he shouldn't have. He brought it on himself. My gang had most of the cops in town on a pay-roll; they still searched for clues and what-not to keep up appearances for the public but I was always pulling the strings. The drug deal your father busted was my most important one; I paid the cops triple their salary to stay away from this drug deal but that son of a bitch Kasumi never bought into our plan and decided to look into things solo. Eventually he deduced the place and time of the deal and caught us all and got all my men arrested so I decided that if he's gonna take something important to me-why shouldn't I take something important from him—his family. I enjoyed watching him get hacked to death and don't even get me started on your mother. That bitch just refused to die especially when I mentioned what I was going to do to you. That night when the police arrived I managed to escape with my second-in-command but my other subordinates weren't so lucky. I promised myself that I would return and make sure that I'd kill you" he finished with a wicked smile

Tenten was shaking with rage-so much so-that she knocked him unconscious with just one punch. She raised her katana above her head, ready to do the unthinkable act she'd decided to do ever since the case started. Tears were streaming down her cheeks-she'd forgotten to ask why he'd killed Lee but she knew that no answer would ever satisfy her. She brought down her sword at full force and was ready to kill him until…

Her sword was stopped halfway—by another sword.

Overcoming the shock she took a look to see who was on their knees in front of her blocking her sword from reaching Sabuza's heart—it was Neji.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" she yelled angrily at him

"I could ask you the same thing." he calmly replied "You can't do this Tenten; it's not the right way to end this"

"I couldn't give a damn about the right way anymore! I just want him dead!" she exclaimed and came down harder on Neji hoping to overpower him

"And what exactly will that accomplish? Sure you'll have your revenge but you'll also be a murderer" he fought back

"I. Don't. Care!" she spat

"Will you stop being so damn selfish!"

"And why should I?! I can't just forget everything he did, everything he put me through!" she yelled the loudest while tears streamed down her cheeks "He's the reason I have nothing left anymore!" He's the reason I don't have a family anymore!" she was breathing heavily, her strength fading after her outburst

"You're wrong, you've got your friends, your team…you've got me…" he said and withdrew his sword since Tenten wasn't coming down on him anymore. She just stood trembling as the tears continuously glided down her cheeks. Neji walked over to her and put his arms around her and held her in his arms "You're not alone Tenten"

She dropped her katana and wrapped her arms around him and started crying even harder. She lost all her strength at that moment and couldn't support herself anymore. Neji went down on his knees with her, never letting her go. Her flood gates burst; every single emotion she'd kept locked away came flooding out as she held on to Neji like her life depended on it.

"Did you manage to stop her Neji?" came another voice—Sasuke just walked in

"Yes and without the use of excessive force. We need to call backup and have him arrested"

"I've already put the word out, they're on their way" said Sasuke as he walked over to Tenten who was looking down at Sabuza and looking quite defeated herself

"It wouldn't have been worth it Tenten; if you'd killed him your life would have changed for good and the rest of us would be in a situation that we wouldn't want to be in. Don't make the same mistake I did-the enormous amount of hatred and anger I felt towards my older brother just turned to an equally enormous amount of guilt when I got my revenge that I still carry with me today. Revenge is a heavy burden with a great price to pay." He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled at her

BANG!

A gun was fired.

Before Tenten could even register what had happened; Sasuke fell to the ground-a pool of blood forming around him. When she looked around she saw the second Sabuza leaning with a pistol in his hands and a smug look on his face.

"You bastard! How dare you—

Tenten was about to attack him but Neji held her in place. She tried her hardest to break free of his grasp

"No, Tenten don't! Focus on Sasuke; we need to get him get of here and to Sakura immediately. Take my car; I'll stay here with Sabuza until backup arrives"

She nodded and took Sasuke out of the room. Neji went over to Sabuza and hand-cuffed him.

"Neji's your name right? Well Neji, I have a feeling that you're going to do me a huge favour"

"And why the hell would I do that?"

"Let me tell you something about your girl Tenten" he said with a smirk

Xxx

Tenten was back at the Agency outside the infirmary where Sakura was operating on Sasuke to get the bullet out. After half an hour she finally finished. She took off her surgical gloves and wiped the sweat from her brow. Her anxiety wore off and she could breathe easily knowing that Sasuke was safe. She walked outside the room to see Tenten with her face buried in her hands.

"He's asleep Tenten, Sasuke's gonna be fine" she said and sat next to her friend

"What have I done? This is all my fault; if I hadn't gone off on my own—

She cried as she spoke

"Tenten stop; you can't blame yourself for this" she hugged Tenten who held on tightly to Sakura "Why don't you go get some rest, your body needs to recover" she stood up and helped Tenten stand as well

"I guess you're right; I'll see you later" she turned and headed to her room "Goodnight Sakura"

As soon as Tenten got to her room she took a long shower and tried to forget everything that happened but that was impossible. She would never forget how she relentlessly went at Neji-any longer and she could've done the unthinkable to him. As the warm water beat down on her skin she bit her lower lip trying to hold back the tears. After her shower she got dressed into her pyjamas and was about to get into her blankets when she heard a knock at her door.

"Neji…when did you get back?" she asked while trying to avoid eye contact

"A while ago, may I come in?"

She stood aside and closed the door behind him.

"So?" he started

"So what?"

"We have to talk about what happened back there" he said as he sat in one of the chairs

"Do we have to?" she sat on her bed with her back to Neji

"Yes eventually you're going to have to answer for what you did; at least now you can get your story straight before you speak to the Director"

"Well I'll answer then"

"Come on Tenten; I'm worried about you. How am I supposed to help if you won't tell me how you feel?"

"Fine you want to know how I feel!" She turned and faced him "I'm feeling unbelievable pain and rage and it's all self-inflicted. I let my anger get the best of me to the point of almost killing someone and abandoning the most important people in my life. Sasuke got shot because of me and I could have hurt you too—do you know how guilty I'm feeling right now; I can never look at myself the same way again; I can't even look at you without remembering what I did. I'll never forgive myself" she balled her hands into fists as she shook with emotion "I feel so broken"

He put his arms around her and held her close

"You know you don't have to put on this brave face for me" he rested her head against his chest and stroked her back

She started crying. And clutched on to Neji's shirt as she did—everything she was feeling came out "I'm so sorry Neji, I'm sorry for everything"

Nine a.m. Tenten was in Director Tsunade's office

"Tenten what you did cannot be overlooked. You not only put yourself in danger but the entire agency. I'm removing you from the case; you're to stay here at all times unless instructed otherwise. Use this time to recollect yourself. Consider this your first and final warning; if I hear that you participated in this case at all; you will be dismissed from the Agency. Do you understand?" her arms were folded the entire time she spoke

"Yes I understand"

"Good you may leave"

Tenten left the office without another word and went to one of the vending machines to get something to drink.

"So what did the Director say?" asked Shikamaru who came by

"Well I'm off the case and pretty much under house arrest, I can't leave this place" she answered as she opened her can of cool drink.

"I'm sorry about this"

"Why are you apologising?" she raised a brow as they walked down the hallway together

"Because I'm the one who called them-Neji and Sasuke. After you left that night when I found you using the satellite trackers; I knew you'd pull a Sasuke—excuse the word use—and go off on your own and try to kill the man that killed your parents." He looked quite regretful as he spoke

She put her hand on his shoulder

"It's alright; I'm glad you did. If you hadn't called them and they hadn't stopped me…well the situation would've been a hell of a lot worse than it is right now"

They two of them continued their conversation in the cafeteria; meanwhile Sakura was still with Sasuke in the infirmary. She was checking his vitals when he woke up.

"Sasuke, you're awake" she said relieved

"How long was I asleep for?"

"Just a few hours now" she said with tears in her eyes

He sat up slowly then winced from the pain from his left side

"Easy; I had to give you stitches after I removed the bullet so you're going to feel some pain there for a few days. I'm sorry" she sat on the edge of his bed and faced him

"You don't need to apologise for anything; you saved my life" he put his hand on top of hers

"What happened to us Sasuke; we used to be so close" she almost whispered

"What happened was me. After everything that I did while I was gone for those three years I didn't allow myself to reconnect with you because I didn't want you to forgive me. I'd completely convinced myself that I didn't deserve you and that you would never look at me the same way again"

"I admit that when you left it hurt me in ways I can't explain but I never gave up on you, I never hated you or anything. I just wanted you back here-safe, with me and here we are. My feelings for you never changed-I loved you then and I love you now" she tightened her hand around his and looked him in his onyx eyes a little tearfully

"You what?" he asked with genuine surprise

"That's right Sasuke, I love you." she cupped his face with her hand "And I've wanted to tell you for so long now but—

He interrupted her with a kiss. After getting over the shock Sakura closed her eyes and kissed back passionately. She placed her hands on his chest while he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her closer and deepened the kiss. After a while they separated

"I love you too" he said with his forehead resting on hers with his eyes closed. The words she'd been waiting to hear for the longest time never knowing if she ever would. She couldn't be any happier at that moment.

After a few days of recovery the rest of the teams were back to solving the case. Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Hinata were assembled in the boardroom.

"Sasuke are you sure you should back; shouldn't you rest a bit longer until your wound is completely healed?" Hinata asked

"I'll be fine as long as I don't do anything too strenuous" he replied "But getting back to the matter at hand; we need to figure out why the killer was in your room at the party."

"Nothing was taken and the room was unsearched so he couldn't have been looking for something"

"Maybe he was trying to lure Lee there"

"But Lee was on his own plenty of times that night. Sabuza had plenty of opportunities to kill Lee; so why did he choose to kill him at that time in that specific room?" Shikamaru said and closed his eyes to think

"I think it was done on purpose-he wanted us to see it as soon as possible instead of just killing Lee and hiding the body for us to find later. He's being bold; he wanted to show us that he isn't afraid of the organisation or of being caught" Neji concluded

And then it struck Shikamaru

"He wanted to get caught. According to what Tenten told us-he wanted to get revenge on her because of what her parents did right? So in killing Lee he increased his chances of being caught by the very person he was pursuing. Instead of going after her he made her go to him"

"Then doesn't that mean that were missing something?" Hinata asked

"Yes it does; it means that he's already a step ahead of us because we don't know what happened when Tenten went after him by herself. Whatever he wanted to do to her; he's already done it. It was never his intention to kill Tenten at that moment otherwise he would've shot her instead of me. The lag time between us arriving and her arriving at his hideout is about an hour." Sasuke explained

"So what you're saying is…" Hinata started

"We need to find out what happened between them for that hour" Shikamaru finished the sentence

Xxx

Tenten was on the training grounds sparring with one of her underclassman who'd asked her to help him with his swordsmanship. His name was Rinji and he had short brown hair and hazel eyes. The two of them had been training for just over an hour. Rinji was fast and flexible but he still had a long way to go to catch up to Tenten. With one swift final swing Tenten managed to get possession of his katana. The match was over and they were both breathless.

"You left yourself open Rinji, never give your opponent an opportunity to seize your weapon otherwise the battle is all but over" she handed back his sword

"I think your skills are just unnaturally refined" he said still trying to catch his breath

"You think so?" she chuckled

"Yes I really do; looks like I've still got a few more years of training to do before I could be in your league" he sheathed his sword and took his bag "You coming back?"

"Nah I'm gonna stay and train some more, I'll see you around Rinji" she picked up her bottle of water and poured it over her head to cool down then drank some

"Even when you're grounded you never stop training" said a familiar voice

"Grounded?" she scoffed "You make me sound like some juvenile Neji" she chuckled and raised a brow

"That's debatable" he said and took a seat on one of the benches

"You forget I'm holding a katana in my hands"

"Yes a katana that I got you" he looked straight at her taking in her training outfit which was a neon green training bra and black track pants with matching takkies

"You think that'll make me reluctant to use it on you?" she cheekily replied "As much as I'm enjoying our mid-afternoon banter there must be a particular reason you came to find me"

"Always straight to the point huh?" he smirked "Actually yes there is another reason. I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat in town seeing that you haven't been able to leave this place for a while now"

"And what makes you think that I can leave now? I'm still not allowed to leave remember?"

"I already asked the Director for permission and she agreed"

"Oh well then I'd love to" she paused for a moment. She'd just realised that things hadn't been this relaxed between her and Neji since before their fight a while back-excluding the time when he he'd stopped her from killing Sabuza and she cried in his arms in her room.

"Hmm…" she started

"What's the matter?" he asked walking towards her

"It just seems like things are back to normal between us"

"You make that sound like a bad thing"

"No no it's just we haven't really talked about what happened" she thought back to that day they argued

"Do you really want to talk about it?" the guilt of what he'd said came back to him. He'd never intended to hurt her like that. If he told himself he didn't know why he'd said those terrible things he'd be lying. He knew exactly why he'd said them but he was too stubborn to tell her how he really felt.

 _You love her and you know it._

 _The very thought of her being with Sasuke makes you angry._ His inner thoughts argued with him, revealing truths to himself he knew he could never admit to her.

"No I guess not but—

"I didn't mean what I said"

"What?"

"That argument—the last thing I said to you before you left, I didn't mean it. I just…"

 _Got really jealous_

"I panicked"

"For what though?"

He sighed. He never talked about things like this to anybody.

"Well you two were spending a lot of time together I thought that I'd lose you"

"And what on earth made you think you could lose me so easily?" she said haughtily "Neji we've been friends and teammates for years and I love what we have more than anything. Nothing will ever change that" she smiled "Sasuke's one of my closest friends and what we have isn't romantic at all-far from it in fact. Look what you and I have is irreplaceable, I rely on it more than you know and I would never do anything to jeopardise that. This is going to last forever and like it or not you're stuck with this amazing weapons mistress because I'm not going anywhere" she'd already wrapped her arms around him

"Are you done complimenting yourself?" he chuckled and hugged her back

"The point is you'll never lose me. And besides; if your stubbornness hasn't pushed me away by now then it never will"

She could practically hear him glaring.

"I'm kidding…maybe" she laughed "Now let's go eat, I'm starving" she hooked her arm with his and started walking back together

Xxx

"So how's the investigation going?" she asked knowing she wouldn't get an answer

"You know I can't answer you" he replied finishing off his coffee

"Yeah I know; I just thought I'd try my luck"

The two of them sat in comfortable silence eating their food in the not so crowded restaurant. Such is the city life during the working day.

"There is something I need to ask you though"

"About the case?" she suddenly got serious. He nodded "Alright but not here; we shouldn't talk about it in public"

Back in Neji's car they started talking

"It's about when you went after Sabuza. We need a clear timeline from when you left until I stopped you"

"Oh that makes sense…" she closed her eyes and thought "Let's see…I accessed Shikamaru's computer at two a.m.; then at quarter past he caught me then I left to find Sabuza at the armoury. I got to his hideout at three—we talked, we fought and that lasted about twenty five minutes and the next thing I remember is escaping from the chains he tied me up with, that was at four and you know how the rest goes"

"Wait what do you mean 'the next thing you remember'? What happened during that thirty five minute gap?"

"I don't know. During our fight he got me with some knock out powder, so I was unconscious for a while"

Neji's heart sank when she'd told him. That means everything he said was true, she really is in danger.

Flashback

" _Let me tell you something about your girl Tenten" he smiled wickedly "You obviously know about my abilities by now, that I can control people like I did to Ino and Naruto. But that isn't the only ability I possess but that's a story for another time. During our little fight just now I managed to put her under my control but this is slightly different from the ones I used earlier. I can control her entire nervous system"_

" _And you expect me to believe you?"_

" _You don't have to believe me now, maybe you'll believe me after she's dead. All I have to do is make her point her katana at her chest and—" he was just about to when Neji stopped him "Oh I guess you do believe me then"_

" _Explain yourself!" he said furiously_

" _Gladly. You see I'm not one of those villains that can be bought or bargained with because the only thing I want is already in progress. I want Tenten dead—nothing more nothing less"_

" _And she has no idea that you did this to her or that you have control of her nervous system?"_

" _Why would she? It's not like anyone had told her about it" he smirked "And it's going to stay that way"_

" _I presume this favour is for me to keep quiet about all of this" he glared at him "And doing so will make me look like a traitor when you get her to start doing whatever you want, am I wrong?"_

" _My my you are a smart one indeed"_

" _And how exactly will you know that I'll keep up my end of the deal?"_

" _Because I trust that you wouldn't recklessly put her in danger just to prove me wrong. And as insurance I'll be able to hear what she hears if I so choose"_

"…eji...Neji? You just suddenly zoned out. Are you alright?"

"It's nothing, I'm fine" he looked away from her

The next morning Tenten was on her way to see The Director but she suddenly stopped—she couldn't control her body and sharp pain shot through her back. She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself trying to get through it but the more she resisted-the more intense the pain became. Until she finally let out a horrible scream. They heard her screaming and burst through the door. Neji and Sasuke found Tenten writhing on the ground with her eyes closed. They tried to calm her down but nothing worked-she kept squirming and fidgeting out of their grasp until they managed to get her on her bed and pin her down. The only reason they'd managed to do this because she started to calm down; she wasn't writhing anymore; she'd completely stopped but her breathing was laboured and beads of sweat were on her forehead.

"It looks like he's stopped controlling her" Neji said

What do you mean he stopped controlling her?!" Sasuke asked completely flabbergasted

She slowly opened her eyes. And smirked.

"Tenten are you alright—

Sasuke just managed to dodge the knife Tenten tried to cut him with

"What the hell are you doing?" he struggled, holding her left arm to keep her from stabbing him as she forced herself at him but she broke free from his grasp and ran out her room.

The silence that hung between Neji and Sasuke-as they tried to take in whatever had just happened-didn't last very long and before Neji knew it he was pinned to the wall by Sasuke.

"Alright Hyuuga talk, you clearly know something that I don't. What the hell is going on?!" he yelled at him

Neji explained the whole story-the conversation he'd had with Sabuza.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why didn't you tell the rest us about this?!" he yelled

The situation infuriated him.

"My hands were tied" Neji replied calmly and did nothing to break free of Sasuke's grasp

"Like hell they were! You were just afraid she'd come to me for help instead of you!"

"Is that what you think?"

"No Neji; it's what I know. You thought you could help her on your own and look where it got you!"

 _It's partly true_. His inner thoughts retaliated

"It doesn't take a genius to know that you don't care too much about the fact that she and I spend a lot of time together. You hate it and you know it. But I don't care—if you had just—dammit!" he exclaimed as he released Neji and walked away from him towards the door. Now wasn't the time to be arguing about this.

"I'll go after her; you need to figure out a solution to this problem"

"And why should you go after her?" he said sourly

 _Jealous aren't you._ His inner thought plagued him

"Just which one of us is the best fighter in the entire organisation...I thought so" he continued towards the door. Just as he was about to leave he stopped…

"You had nothing to worry about…she loves you" he said almost silently then left

Neji watched him leave and let what he said sink in but he was also distracted by the way Sasuke said those words. He could be wrong but to Neji it sounded as though Sasuke was almost sad to say those words to Neji. _Could Sasuke possibly…_

Xxx

Sasuke had been fighting Tenten for over half an hour. They were currently in the Intelligence Division; both of them were panting but still clutching their katana-ready to fight. Both of them stood on a desk in a fighting stance.

"Don't make me hurt you Tenten." He said trying to catch his breath

"What makes you think you can?" she replied arrogantly then jumped backwards on to the desk behind her and then back flipped while grabbing the chair below her and throwing it at Sasuke and landed on the desk she was originally on. He jumped just in time to dodge the chair but Tenten was already coming after him by the time he landed on the ground. They clashed swords over and over. She tried to slice at his legs but he jumped at the right time and used his katana as an arm hold to support himself as he kicked her back with both legs. She crashed into one of the desks but quickly recovered.

"Why don't you stop pretending that I'm talking to Tenten when I know that you're the one controlling her Sabuza?" Sasuke stated while running in to attack

She blocked his attack with ease and went on the offensive trying to get him from every angle but he blocked her as well. Just as she was sure she would get him he ducked into one of the wheeled computer chairs and propelled himself away from her. Just as he was about to deliver the final blow to knock her out, she held her katana to her throat-ready to slice through if Sasuke moved even a little.

"Don't move or I'll make her end her life right now. Well well if you knew it was me in control of her all this time then why are you fighting her so hard when you know she can't control herself? You wouldn't want to hurt your best friend would you?" she said under his control and bringing the katana even closer to her neck

"I'm starting to see through this little game of yours"

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"This entire time you've made it clear that you want Tenten dead and yet here you are wasting your time fighting me"

"Killing her off immediately would be boring; I wanted to make her friends suffer as well"

"You say that and yet I don't believe you. You've had control over Tenten ever since she fought you at your hideout and you're only retaliating now. If you really wanted her dead like you claim, you could've made her kill herself the minute she got back to the agency. You're after something else…

Meanwhile…

"Shikamaru what are we doing in Tenten's room?" asked Ino as she followed him inside

"Neji explained the whole situation about Tenten to me and something just doesn't add up. I've been watching the fight between Sasuke and Tenten the entire time and he didn't even make a single attempt at making her kill herself" he said as he searched her room

"You think he's after something else?"

"No he's definitely after her life but he's after her life _and_ something else"

"And what makes you think we'll find that something else in her bedroom?"

"The fight between her and Sasuke is a distraction. Everyone in the agency is going to focus on bringing her down and backing up Sasuke. And while they do that Sabuza has probably had some inside help to tamper with whatever it is he doesn't want found until after they catch Tenten. Her bedroom would be the most obvious place because nobody would think that he would put it in such an obvious place"

"You never cease to amaze me Shikamaru. Speaking of which; how did you figure out that I wasn't myself when Sabuza was controlling me?"

"Are you kidding me; I could tell it wasn't you the minute he made you speak" he stopped searching for a moment to look at her "No one knows you better than I do. I know that you like your coffee black with four sugars, you hate rainy days, when the moon is out you like to stare into the sky and write in your journal and I know that you've got a tattoo of our initials in an infinity symbol on your left shoulder blade" he was standing right in front of her and smirked when she blushed at the fact that he knew about her tattoo

"And I know that you've got a certain someone's initials on your collar bone on the right side, someone with the initials I.Y" she smiled knowing full well that they were her initials "But you tried to make it look like a single initial by having the 'Y' on top of the 'I'. So who is this woman? And why is her name tattooed on you collar bone?"

"Oh well that's an easy one. She means the world to me and I couldn't imagine my life without her. She's intelligent and gorgeous—easily one of the most amazing woman in my life" he couldn't help but smile "Now it's your turn to share. Why our initials in an infinity symbol?"

"That's an easy one too; I want us to be like this forever. That's all there is to it" she leaned in and kissed him while putting her arms around him and he kissed back. A few seconds later they broke apart and continued searching

Ino was going through the files on Tenten's laptop and noticed a red file and accessed it. It was the breakdown of Neji's next mission as well as her own. The information had been accessed through the main computer. A new programme was rewriting the scope of the mission. On closer inspection she realised that the programme was organising their deaths on their next missions.

"Um…Shikamaru, would this count as something he wouldn't want found?" she said with a shaky voice

When he arrived to see what she was referring to he froze to see the unknown programme hacking into the main computer of the agency as well as a small bomb attached to the back of her laptop.

"How the hell did he manage to do this?!"


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8: The Agency's Biggest Threat_

In every organisation you get the best of the best-the cream of the crop. Basically the people who keep the organisation from shutting down and the intelligence agency FIRE was no different. Many successful and excellent agents had been produced from the training at the agency but the students of Tenten's year-her class was one of the greatest the organisation has had since its founding. They were the most efficient, the most thorough and without a doubt the biggest threat to the organisation if they ever deflected.

"The agency's biggest threat, what's that?" asked Hinata as she sat down for lunch with her squad namely Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Tenten, Neji, Shikamaru, Ino and Lee

"Well to put it simply it's all of us" Shikamaru explained "Just think about it; we've been trained by the best-of -the-best; been on plenty of missions to give us a lot of experience and we've all got our own areas of expertise and unique fighting styles. If any of us were to defy the agency and try to bring it down it wouldn't be easy but it wouldn't be impossible either"

"So every year the candidates that have graduated and become field agents are also simultaneously put on a list that the organisation had drawn up with all of our strengths and weaknesses" Sasuke continued the explanation

"The list is composed of the agents that studied together in the same year—so all of us here and others—and arranged from the greatest threat to the weakest threat depending on the amount of successful missions and the accuracy of your kills. But the list isn't absolute, it changes from time to time when someone is deemed an even greater or lesser threat and it's available for us to see." Neji took over

The three of them were in-the-know about a lot of things in the organisation.

"Well let's see this list I want to see which of us is at the top" said Ino excitedly

Shikamaru took out his tablet and went through the files that had to do with the organisation and finally pulled up the list in the folder named: The Agency's Biggest Threat. And as they all checked out the list the answer to Ino's curiosity was surprisingly unsurprising—there it stood in bold black letters, the number one spot was filled by none other than the Lightning Class.

"Hm should've seen that coming the biggest threat would be the three of you" said Ino as she read through the list "Oh but here's something surprising, there's no rank number by Tenten. That's strange; does that mean they can't figure out how much of a threat you are?" she looked at Tenten

"I have no idea but it looks to be that way considering there's a giant question mark next to my picture" Tenten replied

"Well that's very significant let's hope you don't turn on us Tenten. We just might not be able to know how to stop you" Sakura joked and they all laughed

If only they knew what was coming…

Normal Time

"How on earth did Sabuza-or whoever is helping him-manage to get this into the building without it being detected?" Shikamaru asked in a panicked tone "And why is the countdown screen flashing zero?"

"Wait a second, Shikamaru. Do you remember the day we were all looking at the list of the Agency's Biggest Threat?"

"Yeah what about it"

"Tenten didn't have a ranking at the time…do you think she has one now?"

Shikamaru caught on to what she was trying to say and took out his tablet to check the list. The first name that appeared on the screen was hers and seeing her ranking just proved Ino's train of thought. Her rank corresponded with the number on the countdown screen. Right there on the list in black letters read: Tenten, rank number…zero. Even higher than the Lightning Class who remained in the number one spot.

"She's number zero, she's the Agency's Biggest Threat?!" Ino couldn't believe it

"It makes sense though now that she's under Sabuza's control. But this is bad news because it means that they won't hesitate to use lethal means if necessary"

"But that doesn't make any sense. How can she be ranked higher than the three of you? Surely you guys could handle her if you charged at her at the same time."

"Probably but that isn't the point. Even if Neji, Sasuke and I were able to apprehend her; she would escape within seconds of capture-she's practically an escape artist. You see the thing about Tenten being a weapons mistress is that not only can she use every weapon out there but she can turn any ordinary object into a weapon for her use. She knows how to get out of handcuffs and unlock doors without keys. She's pretty much on the same level as Neji in terms of infiltration because she has that unique ability. That's what makes her so dangerous and now someone of that calibre is under the control of an external threat to this Agency, it's not surprising at all that she's ranked zero."

Learning that information sent chills down Ino's spine.

"But what does that have to do with the number zero flashing on this bomb?"

"I'm not sure yet" Shikamaru tried to figure it out while he was staring at the flashing number zero. It was flashing in a pattern; he focused on this pattern…it seemed so familiar, until it finally struck him.

"A heartbeat…

"What?" Ino asked confused

"Look at the way the number is flashing. It's a number zero just like Tenten's ranking on the list; now feel your pulse and look at the flashing number, notice anything?"

Ino did as he said and caught on

"They're in sync but what does that mean?"

"It means that this bomb is somehow linked to Tenten's heartbeat and I'm assuming that if her heart comes to a stop so will this flashing causing the bomb to go off; taking this entire building and more with it" he concluded "C'mon we've got to fill everyone else in on this information before Sabuza has the chance to kill Tenten."

Xxx

"You're right I am after more than just Tenten's life. I'm after this entire organisation; this place is the only thing keeping me from operating as freely as I desire"

"This isn't the only intelligence agency in the country. Even if you destroyed it some other authority will stop you." Sasuke said while holding on to his bleeding arm

"That may be so but FIRE has always been the biggest thorn in my side. Any other place I could handle but this one; it's too thorough, too efficient, too well put together. So I figured I could kill two birds with one stone by killing Tenten and destroying this building in one shot."

"I won't let you" he ran full speed at Tenten with no intention of stopping

"No Sasuke don't!" Shikamaru yelled as he ran in but it was too late Sasuke had just run his sword through her chest. Her body went limp and fell to the ground but Sasuke caught her before she hit the ground

She woke up in the infirmary. Looking around she saw on the side table was the bomb that was connected to her heartbeat. They managed to break the connection between her and the bomb without setting it off. She sat up slowly but flinched from her wound. It was still active and very much a threat but for now at least it wasn't connected to Tenten's heartbeat. And now only she could diffuse it.

"You really shouldn't be getting up so quickly" she turned to see Sasuke standing by the window "How are you feeling? Do you remember anything?" he never looked at her but continued staring out the window

"Apart from the occasional stab in the chest I feel fine. And I could see everything that happened during our fight I just couldn't do anything to stop myself or you for that matter. I can't believe you stabbed me" she said not with fear or anger but something else, mock surprise "Nice job" she said sarcastically

"This isn't funny Tenten, far from it" he finally turned to look at her and his eyes were full of regret and pain

"I know it wasn't easy but—

"Not easy?! My hand is still trembling from when I stabbed you, are you saying it should be easy for me to run my sword through my friend's chest?!" he suddenly got fired up

"Yes it should. You had to do what was necessary and because you did we're all safe for now"

"So if there was no other way to save you I was just going to have to kill you?" he couldn't believe her

"That's exactly what you were going to have to do"

"Are you even listening to yourself?!"

"What's so difficult to understand?! If you left me as I was who knows what I would've done. I'm not angry about what you did. I'm glad you did it. When I was forced to watch myself fight you I could see the desperation in your eyes to save me and I also saw how much I was hurting you. I knew Sabuza would never let you get close enough to me to knock me out so I came to the same conclusion as you; stabbing me was the only way to knock me out and get the bomb disconnected as well." She lowered her head "I gave you all those cuts and injuries that was my fault. Sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to do but we have to because it's for the greater good"

They both knew that the conversation was shifting in another direction and they both knew where it was headed. Sasuke felt his heart sink as she got closer and closer to the very conversation he'd managed to avoid explaining to her for the longest time.

"I had to do something I didn't want to do three years ago. I had to just sit back and watch you walk out of here. Accept that you were gone and not know when or even if you were coming back" she said those words painfully

"Tenten—

"Just stop. I don't want to hear whatever excuse you've come up with. I want to know what happened when you were gone. If you can't give that to me than just walk out of here right now" tears were gliding down her cheeks "But know that if you do…were not friends anymore" she looked directly at him tearstained and serious

"If I tell you what had happened you wouldn't want to be my friend anyways"

"So that's it your final answer?" he didn't say another word but just turned away from her "Well then I guess that answers that" she watched him leave

A while later Neji rushed in

"Tenten are you alright?"

"Neji I'm fine—

He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She in turn put her arms around his neck and kissed back. He deepened the kiss then broke away to hug her. He was clearly concerned.

"Do you have any idea how close the Director was to giving the order to kill you if Sasuke hadn't subdued you? I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost you…I love you Tenten"

"Neji you finally said it"

"Wait you mean you knew that I…

"Well you were incredibly jealous whenever Sasuke and I spent time together and that was much more than just friendly concern but more like romantic rivalry" she kept her arms around him "You have no idea how happy this makes me"

"And yet I can tell there's still something bothering you…about Sasuke"

"I don't understand why he can't tell me what happened. Can't you tell me? Was what happened really that bad?"

"In a word yes. A terrible event happened on our previous mission before he left the agency. What happened on that mission was what lead to his departure. But it isn't my place to tell you what happened"

"He's right; it isn't either of our places to tell that to you. Only one person has that right" Shikamaru walked in

"So I guess I'd better start talking now that we're all here" Sasuke carried on from Shikamaru

"Why are you all here?" Tenten looked at the three members of the Lightning Class

"Because excluding the Director, Neji and Shikamaru are the only other two people who know what happened while I was gone. The three of us decided that we'd keep it between the three of us but I guess that's going to change."

Xxx

Tenten was in tears by the time he finished explaining. She had no idea that such a terrible thing had happened to the three of them and most of all that Sasuke went through everything by himself. Neji and Shikamaru had just left so it was just her and Sasuke left to talk.

"I don't know what to say…but I do know one thing for sure; what happened during those three years you were away doesn't define you Sasuke. I don't know what I would've done had I been in your shoes. I'm sorry you had to go through that all on your own"

They were interrupted by a beeping sound. They both turned their attention to the bomb sitting beside her. The timer started counting down from forty-five seconds.

"Can you defuse it?" Sasuke asked

"Yeah I definitely can" she said while scanning the bomb with her tablet and pulled up its design "looks like it's electronically wired to respond to an electronic trigger. If I can change the frequency of the bomb then it won't respond and go off" she explained while typing furiously on the tablet then switching to the wiring of the bomb.

The clock was ticking…

6…5…4…

She pressed save on her tablet and the bomb responded and turned off. She'd done it with four seconds to spare. Tenten sighed heavily obviously relieved she'd done her job well. But suddenly she started shaking and couldn't keep her eyes open.

She was in agonising pain. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. She let out an excruciating scream.

"Tenten what's wrong?!"

"It's…Sabuza he's trying to get control of me again!" she spoke through gritted teeth "He's here!"

"Here what do you mean he's here?!" Sasuke tried to help her calm down but nothing was working

"She means he's in the building" Shikamaru answered as he rushed in

"So he's headed here then; to finish her off"

"Exactly; his abilities work like a remote control or radio. The closer the control is to its receiver the stronger the signal or in his case the closer he is to Tenten the more pain she experiences" Neji answered

"Alright there are three hallways that lead to the infirmary each of us will take one. Don't let anyone past you without confirming their identity"

The three of them agreed and left the room. As soon as they did the door to the medical supplies room opened and someone walked out.

Tenten still struggling with the pain managed to open her eyes to see the man standing in front of her. Just the sight of him intensified her pain. She was breathing laboriously and her vision wasn't clear. Her head felt like it was going to explode from the pressure she was experiencing. Every muscle in her body was screaming in pain-tears continuously streaming down her cheeks.

"Well well Tenten looks like I've got you right where I want you" he smiled devilishly and walked closer to her and stroked her cheek causing her to wince in pain and let out a shout. "You and your friends may have temporarily slowed me down but at least I can have you now" he leaned in to pin her down and as he did her body started shaking violently. The pain became so much that she fell unconscious.

"Get away from her!" yelled Neji as he burst through the door Shikamaru and Sasuke close behind

"What the hell are you bastards doing here?! You're supposed to be on the other side of this building by now" Sabuza yelled in a panicked tone

"Did you honestly think we'd leave Tenten all alone with you running around?" Sasuke started

"We knew you were in here the entire time so we figured we'd just bait you out. Tenten seemingly alone and helpless-you would never turn down an opportunity like that" Shikamaru explained

Neji and Sasuke were ready and knew how Sabuza worked thanks to Shikamaru's briefing before they returned to the infirmary.

Sabuza stood frozen but then turned around and threw kunai at them both but they were dodged easily. Neji and Sasuke ran towards him and Neji leaned forward allowing Sasuke to leap off of his back and strike Sabuza from above while Neji attacked from below-that was the plan. While Sasuke was coming down Neji threw shuriken at Sabuza which he evaded.

As Sasuke came down with his katana from above Neji simultaneously struck him from the centre. The two of them worked in sync perfectly. He blocked the two agents but was wide open in the middle which is where Neji kicked him and he stumbled backwards.

Sasuke swept his leg under Sabuza and made him fall to the ground. He then picked him and shoved him into the wall.

"Now how do we break the connection between you and Tenten?!" he asked with his katana close to his neck

"I'm the only one who can break the connection and the only way to break it is the same way it was activated"

"And how is that?"

"You have to kiss me again right?" came a voice no one thought they'd be hearing for a while

"Tenten you're awake?"

"I was awake the entire time but I decided to keep my eyes closed and see how the situation played out" she said as she stood up from the bed the pain still evident in her voice

"My you're just full of surprises aren't you? But yes; because kissing you the first time was how I took control of you; kissing you again is the only way to break our connection" he said with the smuggest look on his face and enjoyed the pure disgust on Neji and Sasuke's faces

"We're not letting him anywhere near you!" Neji yelled

"You think I want this! I'm just as furious as you are if not more but if it's the only way-

"It isn't the only way" Shikamaru cut in

"You think you understand how my ability works boy?! You understand nothing!" Sabuza spat

"Actually I know exactly how your ability works. You're nothing but a psychotic pervert and the only thing you were planning to do to Tenten as soon as you kissed her was overwhelm her with your chakra and kill her"

"His technique is chakra based?"

"Yes it is; that's why we couldn't figure out a way to defeat him. The higher-up's of this agency discontinued chakra training in all its agents a long time ago. If we can't use chakra then they still have ways of getting rid of us easily should the need arise. If we ever turned against the agency and had abilities like Sabuza the detriment would outweigh the benefit. Basically it's their way of controlling us-being one hundred percent sure that they can kill us. Director Tsunade's year was the last group of agents trained in using chakra" Shikamaru explained "The only way is for someone else to pour their chakra into Tenten and cancel out Sabuza's"

"Then we'll need to ask the Director to do it" Sasuke started

"No there's a simpler way-I'll do it" Neji suggested and looked at Tenten

"Neji you can't only someone who can manipulate chakra can do it…" realisation set into Shikamaru "Wait are you saying that you…"

"Yes I can and so can Hinata. The Hyuuga have been trained in chakra control for generations. Hinata and I could use chakra before we were even old enough to join the agency. The reason I can infiltrate basically any location and Hinata is such an excellent tracker is because we focus our chakra around our eyes increasing our range of vision and clarity" he explained

"You think I'll let you have her so easily!" he focused on her and the pain started again Tenten started screaming and fell to her knees

"Get him out of here!" Neji yelled and just as he did Sasuke knocked him out

This lessened Tenten's pain but not by much-she was on all fours on the ground trying to catch her breath as tears rolled down her cheeks-every muscle in her body was in excruciating pain. As though her whole body was burning on the inside. Shikamaru and Sasuke took Sabuza out of the room and headed to the lower levels to lock him up in a cell.

Neji crouched next to Tenten and turned on his earpiece

"Hinata…

"I'm already on my way Neji" she responded

Xxx

Tenten was asleep on the bed; Neji sat on the edge, moving her hair away from her face. She'd been through so much and he couldn't do anything to protect her from all of it. Do I deserve to be sitting here with her right now? He asked himself

Hinata walked in breaking him out of his pensive silence.

"Is she…?"

"Just asleep; come in" he said gently and stood up "It's going to take both of us to completely get rid of Sabuza's chakra"

"And it won't be easy. His chakra is definitely going to put up a fight and that is going to hurt Tenten; but we have no choice" she gently put her hand on her cousins chest and closed her eyes "First things first; let's break the seal on your chakra network" she concentrated all her chakra to the palm of her hand and focused it on his chest then pulled her hand back slowly breaking the seal.

She'd always disagreed with the segregation that existed within the Hyuuga clan. Only the main members of the family could manipulate chakra whenever they needed to but branch members had a seal placed on their chakra network that could only be undone by a main family member.

"I've never understood why the Hyuuga still upholds this regime of main family members and branch family members" she spoke while finishing off the undoing of his seal

"You've always been like this. You hate seeing others being mistreated" a small smile graced his lips as he looked into his cousins eyes that matched his own but hers held more warmth

"Shouldn't I?" she started "I mean for example; what you did just now; telling everyone about our ability…" her voice grew quieter

"I imagine your father will not be pleased about it and when he finds out-

"You'll most likely be punished for it" she closed her eyes in concern

"I accept full responsibility for it" and he did-all in the name of saving Tenten

"You shouldn't have to though; the situation was volatile and what you did was necessary"

"Hinata-

"No I won't tell him what happened. I've had enough of this; things are just starting to improve between the two sides of the clan, I won't let this destroy that. If my father finds out I could lose my cousin completely and I've already gone long enough without you in my life." Tears were at the corners of her eyes

"If he finds out that you kept this from him; you'll just get punished as well. I can't let you take the blame for me" he places a firm but reassuring hand on her shoulder; the tears had long since escaped her eyes "I'm supposed to protect you" he almost whispered

"It's fine; we'll go down together. You're not my subordinate Neji you're my equal-my cousin. I don't expect you to willingly die for me just because you're from the branch family and that's what you've been told is you reason for living. We're family Neji we're supposed to protect each other right?" she gently wrapped her arms around her cousin and he did the same.

"Thank you Hinata"

Originally he'd resented her-when he was younger. He never understood why he was treated differently from her. His entire life was decided for him. He existed only to protect her. His fate set in stone; he became a bitter individual. He lived up to what was expected of him which was to protect her but never putting any effort into getting to know her or even acknowledging her when she tried so hard to build a relationship with him.

But after having some sense knocked into him by Naruto-a story for another day-he realised that she too went through her own struggles and that all she ever wanted was a relationship with her older cousin and to have his approval of her because he excelled at all he did-to the point of being called a prodigy. That was the old Neji Hyuuga-the cold and resentful young man-he often told himself.

And now.

Now he had a genuine relationship with Hinata. A main family member interacting in an informal manner with a branch member of the family-unthinkable; the elders of the clan would often say about the two of them. But what they called unthinkable he called amazing. He truly cared about his cousin and appreciated how much she cared for him. He couldn't imagine his life without her in it. Smiling to himself Neji realised how much they'd done for each other. All the pain and sacrifices they'd gone through in service to each other made him hold her a little tighter.

He truly had a unique relationship with his cousin and he wouldn't change a thing about it.

After a moment in silence embracing each other they broke apart and focused on the task at hand.

"Alright let's eliminate this chakra for good" Hinata said and held out her hand. Neji took her hand and held Tenten's hand in his other. Hinata did the same.

They both closed their eyes and focused on pouring their chakra into Tenten. As soon as it entered she started squirming and squeezing their hands tighter.

"His chakra is burning me!" Tenten screamed

"You have it fight it Tenten; get it out of you!" Neji said holding her hand as tightly as he could

It pained both of them to see Tenten in so much pain but they knew they couldn't stop so they continued. After a few minutes they started to feel fatigued but they were almost done; Tenten's screams had stopped.

A moment later she stopped moving completely. They had completely gotten Sabuza's chakra out of her body. All three of them were breathing hard at the end of it. Tenten sat up slowly and looked at the cousins.

"Tenten are you alright?" Hinata asked

"Yeah just a little light headed but otherwise I'm fine thanks to you two" she smiled warmly

She then turned her attention to Neji. The two of them looked into each other's eyes for the longest time. Hinata knew they wanted some privacy after all that's happened so she took that as her cue to leave.

"I'd better head back to the Tracker Division; see if they need my help. I'm glad you're okay Tenten" she said while giving her a hug before leaving and closing the door behind her.

It was just the two them now.

She had a lot to say to him and him to her but neither could find the right place to start. She just closed her eyes and leaned against him while he put his arm around her.

"So you and Hinata can use chakra?"

"Yes and we could for a long time"

"Is there anything you can't do?" she asked with a smile on her lips

"There is one thing" he said quietly

"And what's that?" she could hear the concern in his voice as she took his hand and held it tight

"Lose you" he sat up and looked her in her chocolate brown eyes

The gravity of his words weighed down on her. He came very close to losing her today and she couldn't help but look away from him and focused her gaze on her lap. She couldn't even begin to imagine what had been going through his mind when she was attacking while under Sabuza's influence. How would she have felt had the roles been switched?

He cupped her face between his hands and made her look up at him. The emotion in both their eyes spoke volumes while they remained silent. They closed their eyes and brought their foreheads together. They remained like this for what felt like an eternity. The gesture between them was enough for them to know what the other was feeling. Everything they couldn't express eloquently with words was displayed in this one physical gesture and suddenly they both felt like everything was going to be okay.

Neji wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. She hugged him back with every bit of strength she had. All his fears over losing her just melted away at her touch and for reasons he couldn't explain he felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes and eventually escaped his eyes. Tenten ran her fingers through his long silky hair while fighting her own tears before whispering in his ear:

"I'm sorry"

But he didn't blame her for anything he was just glad she was safe in his arms that he could keep holding her. If he could be like this with her forever than everything would be fine. He pulled away from the hug to wipe the tears from her eyes then leaned in and gently pressed his lips against hers. She kissed back and felt her stomach flutter during their kiss. She poured all her love for him into it.

"I love you so much" he said after they separated

He stood up from the bed and helped her up as well. Ever so often though she would lose her balance but she had Neji to support her and he would do so no matter how long it took. It was about time she got back into the swing of things.

And definitely about time she re-joined her friends.


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9: What I've Done_

Recap:

" _I don't understand why he can't tell me what happened. Can't you tell me? Was what happened really that bad?"_

" _In a word yes. A terrible event happened on our previous mission before he left the agency. What happened on that mission was what lead to his departure. But it isn't my place to tell you what happened"_

" _He's right; it isn't either of our places to tell that to you. Only one person has that right" Shikamaru walked in_

" _So I guess I'd better start talking now that we're all here" Sasuke carried on from Shikamaru_

" _Why are you all here?" Tenten looked at the three members of the Lightning Class_

" _Because excluding the Director, Neji and Shikamaru are the only other two people who know what happened while I was gone. The three of us decided that we'd keep it_ _between us but I guess that's going to change."_

Four years ago

Neji, Sasuke and Shikamaru had graduated to become the best of their year-the Lightning Class and were assigned their first mission together.

It was a protection mission. A very important person was being targeted by a group willing to do anything to get the information they needed from this person.

The three of them entered the lavish triple storey home that was painted white on the outside and neutral colours covered the walls of the inside. A spiral staircase to the right of the room lead upstairs and to the left was the living room where a few couches and an incredibly large television sat comfortably on a mahogany shelf.

The three agents stood in awe of the extravagant home and were just as surprised to see the person they were to be protecting. She had striking green eyes and white hair.

"Thank you for coming guys; I'm Natsume Rikosuke" she said as she bowed

"Not a problem I'm Sasuke Uchiha and my teammates Neji Hyuuga and Shikamaru Nara" Sasuke introduced them and they bowed as well "Can you us more information about why you're being targeted?"

"Of course; we can talk in the lounge" she led the way and they followed

Once seated she started explaining.

"Well as you know I'm the owner and inventor for the largest weapons company in the country. Majority of the weapons I invent are used by Intelligence Agencies such as FIRE and a few others. And naturally they're very attractive looking to criminals-with my weapons and tech they could practically do anything. No one can build my weapons better than I can so I've been targeted by a few criminal organisations wanting to kidnap me and force me to invent new weapons for them."

"But you've almost been kidnapped thrice already why did you only think to contact the agency for assistance now?" Shikamaru

"Because now they're becoming more impatient and bolder in their attempts. The first two attempts were the simple smoke out the room and try to take me away during the confusion but the third time was in my lab in another part of the city. They walked in and just shot everyone who got in their way but my guards snuck me away before they made to my lab; so when I saw how desperate they were to get me I decided to call Director Tsunade and tell her everything" she looked down into her lap as she finished speaking

After they spoke downstairs Natsume showed them to their rooms. Making sure they were settled in she then gave them some privacy.

"Hard to believe she's our age and living in a house like this" said Sasuke as he sat down on his bed

"Yeah it's impressive to say the least but getting back to our mission; we're going to have to keep a very close eye on her. She's taken time off from her company until this matter is solved so she's going to be spending a lot of her time here and that means her kidnappers will be targeting this house" Shikamaru explained

"And that also means that were going to have to take turns patrolling the place especially at night" Neji carried on from Shikamaru

"I'll get to work hooking up the surveillance cameras to my laptop" Shikamaru then got to work on his laptop

Xxx

23:53 p.m. Neji and Shikamaru were asleep; it was Sasuke's time to remain awake while the other two slept and at one a.m. they would rotate. He was sitting at the kitchen counter with Shikamaru's laptop watching the cameras for any activity but so far nothing had turned up so he decided to make himself a cup of tea when he head footsteps descend the stairs.

It was Natsume with her hair tied up wearing a black silk pyjama dress and a sheer black short nightgown over it.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Sasuke asked as he watched her walk over to him

"I could ask you the same thing. I couldn't fall asleep"

"Neither could I" he lied to keep from worrying her

"Nice try but I know a routine patrol when I see one. I see you got stuck with the graveyard shift; I'm sorry you have to stay up so late" she took a seat next to him

"It's alright; the person I'm protecting is well worth it" he looked at her and smirked

She stood up and went to pour herself a cup of tea before replying to Sasuke

"Well Sasuke if I didn't know any better I'd say that you're trying to flirt with me" she then returned to her seat next to him warm beverage in hand and a cheeky smile on her face "I know how popular you are with the ladies-your fangirls just faint at the very sound of your voice and as attractive as it is I should warn you…" she leaned in a little closer "I'm not so easy to seduce"

"Well we are going to be staying here a while so…" he leaned in as well "I'm glad you're not" he returned her cheeky smile with his own

She pulled back but her smile remained firmly planted on her lips. They sat in comfortable silence and finished their tea.

"I'm really glad you guys came. All this really has me quite afraid" she ran her index finger over the rim of her cup

"I actually think you're quite brave. After almost being kidnapped once most people would've stopped working but you didn't, you carried creating weapons and tech. You didn't let them stop you from doing what you love"

"I've always loved inventing and having the feeling that with just my hands I can make something amazing-it always filled me with pride"

"And we'll do everything we can to keep those hands and the rest of you safe"

She smiled at his attempt at a joke

"I guess I should be heading back to sleep" she stood up to put her cup in the sink then walked over to Sasuke "You really know how to cheer a person up. Goodnight Sasuke" she put a hand on his shoulder then left for the staircase when he said goodnight as well.

The next morning Natsume and the guys had breakfast in the lounge. Still no suspicious activity and this made Shikamaru wonder what was going on. Surely the organisation trying to kidnap her knew she wasn't at the company but rather staying at home for her own safety.

Days turned into weeks and eventually a month had passed.

Natsume and the guys were on the top deck of the house where the pool was. She was wearing a black one piece swimsuit with cut-out's on the side. And for the first time since they'd arrived all three of the guys were relaxing. Sasuke sat with his feet in the water while Neji and Shikamaru sat on the lounge chairs. Natsume was fully in the water enjoying the cool water when she swam up to Sasuke and crossed her arms over the edge of the pool.

"Aren't you coming in?" she looked up at him

"Not right now"

She splashed him and laughed "Well now you have to" she said as she swam away for she knew he would go after her. And he did. As soon as she started swimming away he dove right in and began chasing her.

Meanwhile Shikamaru and Neji just watched then looked at each other.

"'Just friends' he says" Neji said with a smirk on his face

"We all know that that isn't really possible with him" Shikamaru chuckled while he adjusted his sunglasses "It's always something more"

Just as he finished speaking an alarm went off on his laptop. They all froze. Shikamaru ran inside and Neji followed closely behind him.

"C'mon let's get inside" said Sasuke and they both swam to the edge and climbed out

"Shikamaru what's going on?"

"I hooked up my laptop to send an alert if the security from the company was tripped. And it looks like the kidnappers are making their move."

"But why attack the company instead of coming here directly?"

"Looks like you spoke too soon Sasuke because it looks like there are two cars headed here"

"And I think I know why most of them are headed to my company. A few weeks before you guys arrived I'd just finished creating a new type of tech but I haven't released what type of tech it is yet so they don't even know what it does" Natsume began

"And what does it do?" Neji asked

"Well in a nutshell it gives you the same visual abilities as the Hyuuga. Only these glasses work even if you don't use chakra"

Neji stared in disbelief.

"Why would you create something so dangerous? If they get their hands on it who knows how much trouble they can cause?!" he shouted louder than he intended to

"I was asked to by Director Tsunade and I only made one pair"

"Everyone just calm down" Shikamaru put his hand on Neji's shoulder "We need to split up; Sasuke you stay here and protect Natsume from the guys headed over here while Neji and I will go to N-Tech to get those glasses before they're stolen"

"But how are you going to get there before they steal it? N-Tech is an hour's drive from here with traffic. Without traffic it'll still take you a while"

"Who said anything about driving? We're going to have to fly there with the jetpacks. If we fly at max speed we can there in ten minutes"

Neji and Sasuke got dressed in normal clothes and put on their jetpacks. Natsume went back to her room to get changed while Sasuke walked with Neji and Shikamaru out to the pool area to see them off.

"If the glasses can't be saved you know what to do right?" Sasuke asked

"We'll try not to let it come to that but yes" Shikamaru answered

When they finished speaking they took off and flew towards the city. Sasuke went back inside; got changed and got his weapons ready. He had to protect her at all costs-it was their mission but more than that she was a friend that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to.

He went to check on Natsume.

"Hey Natsume can I come in?" he knocked and waited for her response

"Yeah you can come in"

"I just checked Shikamaru's laptop they'll be here any second they've just turned into the neighbourhood. Listen if they somehow make it past me I want you to hide yourself in your private lab behind your wardrobe"

"How did you…?

"It's my job to notice; promise me you will"

She could see the genuine concern in his eyes. He wasn't just fulfilling the scope of his mission he was really trying to protect her.

"I promise I will" she watched him leave and lock the door

Sasuke stood at the summit of the stairs, katana in each hand when the front door was blown open and group of criminals-heavily armed-stormed in.

"Should've known she'd have protection. Step aside Uchiha we're not here for you"

"I won't let you get to her"

"Bold words but it's one against twenty-five you can't possibly hold out forever" the leader of the group spoke to him

"I guess we'll see about that" he smirked

And the battle began

The troops ran up with the intention of overwhelming Sasuke but they were no match for him. With his two katana he defended his position on the stairs-no one was getting past him. He sliced under them and tripped-some tried to jump past him but he climbed higher and threw them back down. Not long after they'd started Sasuke had defeated all of them-he was breathless yes-but he'd defeated them all.

"You did better than I thought but you're no match for me" the leader said now drawing his own sword

"Allow me to prove you wrong" he stood ready

The leader ran up the stairs and before Sasuke could even blink they were clashing swords. They lit up the room with all the sparks flying from their swords. Their movements danced around each other. They were experienced swordsman.

An eternity seemed to pass by but the two were still engaged in battle-both of them exhausted but neither willing to give in. The leader tried to slice at Sasuke but he ducked just in time but was forced to his knees when the leader came down on him. Sasuke turned the momentum around by sweeping his leg under him causing to fall over.

Just as Sasuke was about to deliver the final blow a cloud of smoke erupted from the leaders hands and surrounded him. He'd used knock out powder.

Sasuke-disorientated and coughing stumbled backwards-watched the leader stand up with an arrogant smirk plastered on his face while he fell to his knees.

"You see kid the thing about me is that I win by cheating…" he said

But Sasuke blacked out before he could hear the rest of his words. The last thing on his mind was Natsume.

Xxx

He felt cold tiles pressed up against his cheek as he stirred into consciousness. Sasuke slowly opened his eyes to take in his surroundings. The room was dark and cold-only one window and it was too high up to reach. The walls were brick and the floor was tiled. He was in a cell.

As he sat up he felt that his arms were tied behind him and that he wasn't alone in the cell. He turned to his left and saw Natsume starting to wake up. As soon as she was fully awake she started panicking.

"What the-how-where are we?" she said as she frantically tried to get her cuffs off her wrists

Sasuke managed to get his arms to the front then he tried to calm her down.

"Natsume relax; just calm down alright" she looked him on the eyes and did as he said. She quietened and just looked at him waiting for him to continue

"They used knock out powder on us. I don't know how they found you but they did and they've brought us here"

And then it dawned on him-where was the rest of his team? Where were Neji and Shikamaru? But his question was answered when he heard a voice come from the other side of the wall.

"You're finally awake Sasuke."

"Shikamaru?"

"Yeah it's me and Neji's with me. Is Natsume with you; is she alright?"

"Yes I'm here Shikamaru and I'm fine" she answered "Were you able to get the glasses?"

"Yes we were but unfortunately there was no way we could make it out with them. We were severely outnumbered so our only option was to destroy them" Neji explained

"Oh I see…it's alright as long as they end up in the wrong hands"

"That may be but by destroying them we've just increased your value to them which means they'll stop at nothing to extract information; no form of torture is off the table" Shikamaru expressed with appropriate concern in his voice

They all remained silent taking in that they mall not all make it out of capture alive. Anything was possible but one thing they all knew was that the chances of all of them surviving this were next to nothing.

The next moment a group of men walked into Sasuke and Natsume's cell; all of them carrying weapons and with a lascivious look in their eyes as they stared at her. The men stiffened when they heard footsteps approaching. Their leader had arrived.

"Natsume Rikosuke we meet at last" he walked towards her and knelt in front of her "You've caused me a lot of trouble. I've lost quite a few men trying to get you but now I finally have you" he grinned examining her face as he spoke

"Don't touch her!" Sasuke spat

The leader turned to him

"And who do we have here? Ah yes you're Sasuke Uchiha the brat who took down his older brother." Sasuke did nothing but glare at the man in front of him

"I commend you; Itachi was one of the biggest gangsters in the land so in your eyes you did this country a great service. Wasn't much of a fan of his, nothing more than trash-

"Don't you dare talk about him bastard!" he yelled before earning himself a solid punch in the stomach from one of the subordinates causing him cough up

"You've got quite the spirit don't you? Don't worry we'll break it soon enough" his sinister laughter sent chills down both their backs "But for now I need to have a little chat with Natsume, boys bring her along" he said before walking out of the room

Natsume's heart stopped in her chest when she saw the men approaching her. She tried scuttling to the back of the room before one of the men pulled her up by the chains around her wrists and another by her hair. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she threw a quick glance to Sasuke who was struggling to break free from the grip of another subordinate who was holding him down.

Her cuffs were unlocked and she was taken out of the room screaming. Her desperate plea was the last thing he heard before he was knocked out.

She was tied to a chair in a dark room with her arms behind her back and her mouth gagged. Her clothes were torn and her hair was messy. Her blotchy red eyes looked around the room trying to find a source of light. Her breathing was starting to calm down but her mind was still numb yet rushing at the same time. All she could do was look down into her lap in despair; she knew what was coming next. She was going to be tortured for information or be forced to build weapons for them-probably both-but the point was that she wasn't going back to her cell unscathed and the fact that she was a woman didn't make things any easier. An extra form of torture was now on the table if the leader felt lustful enough.

Her head snapped up when she heard the door open and the lights came on making her squint in discomfort as her eyes adjusted to the light now swallowing the room. Now that she could see properly-the room wasn't exactly empty. It was dull and grey with an examination table and a few chairs and tables as well as the chair she was sitting in

"Hello again" he walked towards her fully clad in weapons-to be used on her she presumed "Now Natsume I want to make this as painless as possible. I wouldn't want to harm that beautiful face of yours but…" his eyes suddenly turned cold and steeled his voice blunt "Believe me if you don't cooperate I won't hesitate to subject you to the most excruciating pain and bring you to the edge of death"

"Do what you want to me I won't tell you anything or build anything for you" she said defiantly but her heart betrayed her beating so loud and so fast she was sure he could hear it. He backhand slapped her-the ring on his middle finger cut her cheek.

"Brave woman" he suddenly closed his hands around her throat

Natsume felt her chest aching for air trying to get oxygen into her body. She was choking and her vision was dimming; black spot taking over until her finally released her. She sucked in air immediately coughing as she caught her breath and her eyes watering.

He watched her trying to catch her breath-watching her chest rise and fall. Her shirt was sweat soaked; clinging very closely to her body.

 _How enticing_ he thought to himself as he started unbuttoning her shirt

One-by-one and very slowly each button he undid showed a bit more of her body until he slid her shirt off her shoulders and let it gather by arms. He lustfully stared at her lace underwear.

He then walked behind her and pulled her head back grabbing a fistful of hair making cry out. She just kept her eyes closed and tried to calm down but she figured he was about to make his next move. She could feel his warm breath tickling her neck as he traced his fingers slowly down her neck over her collarbone and cupped her breast. She winced and this made him smile.

"Why don't you tell me what exactly my men were trying to steal?"

"I won't tell you anything" she answered weakly

"Pity" he reached for the large knife currently resting over a flame

She could feel the heat radiating from the metal as he brought it closer to her face

"Last chance" but she kept quiet

And within split seconds of it touching her skin she was screaming and trying to turn her face away but he held her face in place as he slowly slid it across her cheek immediately drawing blood. It felt like he was setting fire to her-every nerve in her body screamed in devastating pain of having the hot knife glide against her skin. She struggled and screamed and cried to get through it. This process continued until she had cuts all over her upper body which would heal as burn marks.

After what felt like an eternity of pain he removed the blade from her skin. The mark left behind. From the base of her ear to the corner of her mouth lay a crimson line of blood. She was panting and her vision still blurred from tears while her body shook in pain and absolute terror.

"I really don't understand why you're making me do this. If you'd just cooperate then I don't have to be the bad guy" he said while untying her from the chair and dragged her over to the examination table and strapped her down "I'm impressed that you didn't give in and tell me anything but there are other forms of torture. How's about we skip the injuring and get to the fun stuff-well fun for me anyways" he unzipped her skirt and slowly pulled it down her legs

"N-No please don't" she pleaded

"Those aren't the words I want to hear" he cut her bra off and cast it aside

Then he climbed on to the table and sat over her, leaning in to lick the fresh cut over her collar bone making her shudder in discomfort. His hands explored almost every part of her body-purposely leaving the forbidden area for last. His hands reached lower and lower down her body currently resting over her stomach.

"Stop! Please!" but he wasn't listening until his hands finally reached their destination. His hands on her hips; fingers tucked in to the inside of her underwear; just as he started lowering them she broke.

"They stole a micro-chip! That's what was in the briefcase" she was crying as she spoke

She knew lying wasn't a smart option but couldn't just tell him everything.

If he ever finds out about her lie…

"And what does this micro-chip do?" he asked while stroking her hair

"It can hack any mainframe; even the most secure of documents could be seized in record time when it's installed"

"Where is it now? The fact that my men came back unsuccessful means that one of your people got to it first"

"It was destroyed to prevent you from getting it" and that part was actually true-Neji and Shikamaru had destroyed the glasses so there was some truth to her story

"Can you build another?" he stared into her eyes with a cold glare

She had to think about her answer. Whether or not she could build it wouldn't guarantee that she'd live. In fact they'll probably kill me as soon as I finish building whatever they want but if I refuse they'll kill me without hesitation and just get the blueprints from my company. I need to remain useful to them for as long as possible. She concluded in her head

"Yes I can but not without resources"

"Very well-you'll start tomorrow, try anything suspicious and you'll regret it"

After that final threat he ordered his subordinates to take her back to her cell. Once back inside she saw that she hadn't been the only one tortured that day-Sasuke was badly beaten, bruises and lacerations all over his back and neck almost as though they belonged there.

After a moment he noticed her

"Natsume are you- that's when he noticed her state of undress "Oh no don't tell me he-

"No, he almost did but no. I gave in when he started pulling on my underwear" her voice broke tears immediately rushing down her cheeks. Sasuke took off his jacket and put it around her to cover up. She wrapped her arms around him gently-to avoid hurting his bruises.

"But I lied. I told him that the item they were after was a micro-chip and not the actual glasses themselves"

"If he finds out you were lying he'll…"

"I know I know but I have it figured out so far. He's forcing me build one tomorrow and that's exactly what I'll do but I'm going to request Shikamaru be my assistant and together we can send a message out"

"It's incredibly risky; you're practically playing with fire. I doubt they'd allow Shikamaru to be your assistant; it would be too risky for this leader but I guess we'll wait for tomorrow to find out"

Xxx

As day turned to night the temperature in the cells dropped to freezing and it didn't help that the windows were just square-shaped openings that could never be closed. Cold air blew in and sank to the bottom of the room numbing their bodies. Sasuke was worried about Natsume-all she had was her shoes and skirt and his blazer over her upper-body. And the only thing resembling bedding was a thin blanket that they were supposed to share. He could hear her teeth chattering from where he sat and saw her body trembling as she tried to fall asleep a few steps in front of him.

He picked up the blanket and sat next to her, wrapping the blanket around them both. He pulled her into his lap so that she straddled his waist which left her confused but he didn't explain as he started unbuttoning his shirt-even in the dire situation they were in she still found herself blushing when she saw his well-built physique.

"We're both going to freeze if we don't conserve body heat. Just relax into me"

The situation would've been a lot more sensual if it hadn't been for survival purposes and yet she still felt something. They stared into each other's eyes and that same something she had experienced passed between them. Natsume unbuttoned Sasuke's jacket that she was wearing, revealing her shirtless body underneath. She closed her eyes and rested her head in the crook of his neck then slowly wrapped her arms around him and brought her chest down on to his; unable to stop the involuntary moan that escaped her lips when the relief and comfort of his body heat washed over her. Sasuke withheld his own moan as her icy body was brought against his-she really was freezing but as the seconds went by she got warmer. Securing the blanket around the both of them he thought back to her moan-how deliciously enticing it sounded. But he quickly shook his head of such thoughts.

They were in a precarious and very perilous situation-thoughts like that should be the last thing on his mind.

"Feeling better?" he finally asked her

Starting a conversation was the best course of action. If he remained in his head much longer he might just go back to his previous thoughts-enjoyable as they would be for him, it wouldn't help the situation.

"Yes much better, thanks" she spoke with her hands resting on his chest now

They remained as they were comfortable in each other's embrace until they finally fell asleep.

The next morning arrived too fast for the both of them when they heard the footsteps off the approaching men. They quickly separated from each other. If any of the gang members found out that there was anything going on between them it could be used against them later. The two men walked in and threw an outfit at her feet. One of them walked towards her and the other went to Sasuke. When she picked it up she saw it was black lingerie.

"What is this?"

"Your work uniform" one of them replied with a smirk on his face "A gift from the boss himself"

"I'm not wearing this!" she defiantly threw the 'gift' back

The man standing by Sasuke took out a Taser and stuck in one of Sasuke's wounds. He screamed in pain. His howls filled the room and hurt her to listen to.

"Alright just stop it please!" she cried with tears in her eyes

She reluctantly picked up the lace underwear and put it on then she picked up Sasuke's jacket and put it on and zipped herself up. She shot them a dirty look when she saw that they were unimpressed that they couldn't stare.

"Let's go"

The men pushed her out of the cell and out of sight

They took her to another room but it was different to the one she was in yesterday. It was in a slightly better condition-it was some kind of workshop. There were wires and tools on four desks as well as four lamps on each table and just as she was getting used to the place the leader walked in with a very injured Shikamaru next to him and he looked like he was barely conscious.

"I hear you need a work partner, will this do?" he shoved Shikamaru into the chair next to hers then walked behind her "I know he's just as intelligent as you are and the two of you together can do great things-maybe even escape but just remember something…"

He turned her head to see the window at the back of the room where Neji and Sasuke were hung by their wrists. Both of them unconscious from the pain from their wounds. Bruises, cuts, burns you name it-all the signs of torture were visible on their bodies.

"Make a mistake and they get punished; try to escape and they get punished, try to contact anyone for backup or rescue and they get punished, fail me-

He took out a knife and stabbed the table right between the gaps of her fingers.

"-and all four of you get punished"

Her chest tightened with fear as she slowly withdrew her hand from the table-his message was clear. He pulled the knife from the table and left the room; slamming the door behind him. Once silence occupied the room she let out a breath she'd been holding out of fear.

"Shikamaru are you alright?"

"I've been better but forget about that why are we building a micro-chip?" he sat up in his chair

"We're building one because I lied about what you guys were assigned to protect. If I told him about it he'd have me build them right now and I can't afford to have something that powerful in the hands of this gang" she gave him a serious look

"Brave and clever as that idea was we're still building a powerful piece of tech for them"

"True but if we can use this micro-chip production as a smoke screen to us sending a message out then it won't matter"

"Two things wrong with that analysis: firstly there's no computer in here which means that we'll only have access to one when it's time to use the chip to hack into your company. And even then we'll be monitored by an expert hacker that works for them or at minimum they have a person who's as tech savvy as we are so that they're not at a disadvantage." He took a moment to think then folded his arms before continuing his explanation

"Secondly sending out a message or turning on a homing device or a GPS system while we're here will leave behind bread crumbs that their tech person will be able to find even if we use backdoor methods to conceal our footsteps. Don't forget that there's an added to risk to us taking risks-Neji and Sasuke's lives are also at stake here"

She sighed and slouched in her chair

"You're right, you really have a sharp intellect Shikamaru" she blew a stray strand of hair away from her face "But what are we going to do? I don't know how much more objectifying I can handle" she ran a hand through her hair while looking at all the equipment in front of them

"That explains the 'outfit' you're wearing"

"Oh it's more than that, it's my work uniform" she said with mock pride "Not only am I being forced to build them tech to help them commit crimes but I have to do it while increasing their already escalated levels of testosterone." She'd broken the pencil she was holding out of frustration as tears welled up in her eyes "I feel like a piece of meat being pulled apart by their eyes alone"

"Hey, don't focus on that right now. We'll figure out another way of getting the word out. In here it's just you and me-

"-And the surveillance camera" she tried to lighten the mood

"That too but whenever we're in here don't focus on what's out there. Leave that outside. When you're in here you're safe they can't hurt you because you're too valuable. You're more useful to them alive so when you enter here just concentrate on the task at hand and right now we've got a micro-chip to build" he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder

Natsume wiped the tears from her eyes and looked to Shikamaru with a small smile and nodded. After regaining her composure they began working on building the micro-chip.

Hours later they were exhausted-since they hadn't eaten in a day and a half. A guard walked in with a small plate that hosted two stale and dry pieces of bread a half a cup of water. They had to be alive not well taken care of-was Shikamaru's line of thought when he took in the dismal food in front of him but because they hadn't eaten in so long they really had no room to complain.

After finishing his bread he took one drink of the water and left the rest for Natsume before returning to work.

This process continued on for many days and it wasn't an easy process. Natsume and Shikamaru had made many mistakes and the leader kept his word-Neji and Sasuke were severely punished for them. Being whipped until the flesh on their backs tore and having vinegar poured over them, beatings and electrocutions were all forms of punishment that were inflicted upon them.

The fact that she and Shikamaru were forced to watch this happen to them destroyed her psychologically after two months of working on the micro-chip. She was returned to her cell for the evening to see Sasuke's wounds had been sewn closed by the medic-only to have them painfully reopened if she and Shikamaru failed again. She couldn't look at him; she couldn't look at herself anymore.

Bruised, beaten, broken, psychologically tortured and emaciated were only a few words to describe how the four of them looked and felt. Sasuke noticed her isolation from him and it concerned him.

"You've been in your head for a while now" he said as he slowly sat next to her; trying as hard as possible not to reopen any of his stitches.

"I can't do this anymore" she was tearing up as she finally looked at Sasuke with red heartbroken eyes "You're getting hurt everyday because of me, you look like this because of me" she was full on crying

"Don't blame yourself for this" he put an arm around her

"How can I not? I've been stripped of my dignity-of everything but that's nothing compared to what the three of you have gone through-

He interrupted her with his lips pressing against hers. Initially shocked but quick to recover she kissed him back. The longer they kissed the more rejuvenated she felt and after a moment their intimate moment became less gentle and innocent but wilder and filled with desire. Sasuke broke away from her lips and peppered her neck with kisses. Slowly leaning down on to the thin sheet separating her from the cold floor Natsume lay down with Sasuke's great muscular body pressing against hers. The wounds on her back were healing whereas Sasuke's were still fresh so she decided to bare the rock hard ground as it poked at her back if it meant continuing to have Sasuke's lips over bare skin. It was definitely difficult keeping in her moans of delight but she knew she had to.

Over time the heated passionate affair ended and the two of them went to sleep however Natsume had a difficult time falling asleep.

She sighed.

"Having trouble sleeping?" a familiar voice spoke

"Apparently I'm not the only one…Neji"

"Can we really be blamed it's not as though we're resting luxuriously"

"True enough" she smiled to herself "About the glasses Neji; I'm sorry about everything I didn't realise how dangerous they were at the time"

"No need to apologise, you were just following a request"

"Well it wasn't so much a request as it was a favour"

"A favour?"

"Yes Director Tsunade asked me as a favour to create the glasses on behalf of someone else"

"On behalf of who?"

"Hinata" he let her name sink in "She asked me to create glasses that mimic the powers of the Hyuuga clan for a person whose chakra network isn't always active, a person I've come to realise is you based on how she described you"

"How did she describe me?"

"She said the glasses were for someone very important to her, someone she looks up to. This person is an absolute prodigy-a genius in the clan but because of special circumstances he was always treated differently, unfairly differently. He is brave, strong and incredibly intelligent-a person she couldn't see her life without."

Neji hadn't even noticed the smile that spread across his face as he listened to her words. Those words were enough to make the pain of his injuries less immediate.

"It seems like your cousin really thinks highly of you Neji"

"So it would seem"

"I can't say I blame her though; I mean we haven't know each other for long but I can see why Hinata would say all that about you"

"I'm not so sure why" he said doubtfully

"Meaning?"

"The relationship I have with her now is a complete opposite of how it was when we were younger. We were never the same and we're still not. Like she said I was treated differently and because of that I resented her, I wanted nothing to do with her but I suppose that didn't deter her from trying to build a relationship with me. And through her determination we became closer than anyone-most certainly myself thought possible"

"She sounds like she has the biggest heart"

"Never encountered anyone more caring" he said fondly

"Hmm…curious"

"What is it?"

"It looks like I will be able to get some sleep after all, turns out all I needed was a good conversation" she smiled to herself "Goodnight Neji"

"Goodnight Natsume"

She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep; glad she could have that conversation with Neji.

When she woke up the next morning she felt an insurmountable amount of dread weighing on her shoulders. Her soul was troubled and she couldn't brush it off as easily as just feeling under the weather. Sasuke could tell when she looked at him that there was something seriously bothering her behind her pensive eyes.

"Natsume are you okay you're unnaturally quiet today" Shikamaru asked as he worked on the computer that they were finally given to use to programme the micro-chip

"Yeah I'm fine…" she paused for a moment "I was just thinking that they finally gave us the computer that we're going to have to use to hack into my company-the day has finally arrived"

Shikamaru immediately caught on to what she was referring; the impact of her words hit him hard. There was nothing he could say to her to change anything.

"I'm sure it'll happen really fast. It won't be a long process-not at all" his grim words filled the room seemingly making the room a little harder to breathe in.

Hours passed-today they made no mistakes, she refused to make any and have them pay for her mistakes. Not today-

Definitely not today.

Mid-afternoon she was sent back to her cell, when she walked in she found Sasuke chained to the wall and bleeding-he'd just gone through a severe beating. Her heart stopped when she saw who the person was enacting the cruel punishment on Sasuke. It was the leader himself.

"I hear as of right now the micro-chip is hacking into your company and downloading precious information. Information I could've gotten from you" the silence that remained after those words made her heart beat faster-she knew what was coming next.

She knew it was coming the entire day.

He walked over to her and before she could even blink a gun was pointed directly at her face. She jumped slightly when he pressed it against her forehead.

"No no don't do it!" Sasuke yelled but as he was about to keep going he was shot in the shoulder "She's still useful to you!" he fought through the pain and tears and kept talking

"How so? Any information that I would've wasted extracting through torture I can now get immediately and directly from her company. As far as I'm concerned all she's good for is fun in bed and I've already had my fun with her"

"Sasuke just stop. We all knew this day was coming I just knew it was today"

"Is that why you-

"We all knew that all four of us were never going make it out of here alive and I think we all knew that I was the one who'd go first. It's okay I've accepted it" tears were streaming down her cheeks but she had a determined smile on her face. She wasn't going to let the man that was about to kill her see her break down. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Time stood still for them. Tension was thick and the room was suffocating to be in. The wills of both victim and culprit were fighting to outdo the other but they both knew which of the two would win. The leader offered a twisted smile.

"Brave woman" he said slowly

And before time had a chance to catch up he pulled the trigger-three shots, three bullets.

She was dead before she hit the ground.

The final echoing of the bullets faded reverberating through Sasuke's soul. He was absolutely stunned that less than three seconds ago she was alive and speaking to him and now she was on the ground; a pool of blood blooming around her body.

"You bastard I'll kill you!" he was livid

"In your condition I highly doubt that" he turned to leave the cell and a group of subordinates rushed into his cell and into Neji and Shikamaru's "Be ready to shoot on my command boys…aim-

And just when the situation was at its worst a round container rolled into the room. Before anyone could even register how it had gotten inside it detonated, releasing smoke into the room. And suddenly the room was being stormed by soldiers fighting against the gang's subordinates.

Sasuke looked up to see the soldiers clad in the uniforms of the agency he worked for. The leaf symbol on their chests. FIRE had arrived to rescue them. The last thing he saw were soldiers running towards him before he blacked out…

Normal time, in the infirmary with Tenten and the guys

"We woke up in the infirmary a few hours later. After being patched up we were debriefed and ordered by The Director to take time off to recover from that terrible experience" Sasuke explained. "Natsume's body was brought back as well and we decided to have her funeral and have her buried here, because she died like one of us, protecting her comrades until the very end" Sasuke's voice went quieter

"All the subordinates were arrested and we thought we caught everyone but apparently we missed someone-their leader escaped." Shikamaru explained

"How did the agency know where you guys were?"

"While programming the micro-chip we actually did hack into N-Tech and while it was downloading information without the company's knowledge; I installed a system in the chip to leave behind a virus that could be tracked from its source. So even when the chip stopped and was disconnected the virus left on the software of the company could be reverse tracked to the software that sent it so they'd tracked the computer I was using back to the location we were being held. There were dozens of opportunities to fail but in the end it worked out"

"Without Shikamaru we wouldn't have made it out" Neji added "After three months of recovery Shikamaru and I returned to the agency to resume work-

"But I didn't…I couldn't. I just couldn't go back and carry on as if nothing had happened, so I left when Neji and Shikamaru went back. The day you saw me leave Tenten, I had already made up my mind and nothing anyone said was going to stop me." He took a deep breath before continuing

"I had tracked the movements of the 'All is One' gang for two and a half years until I finally found them. I broke into their base of operations and took them all out; I made sure there wasn't a single person left standing. I got my revenge but in the process I'd lost myself and when it came time to finally take out the leader I got reckless which gave him an opportunity to escape.

And thinking back now I realised that the leader of the gang back then and the person we faced tonight was the same person. The name of the leader back then was Kibunza Sakoza and if you rearrange that you get Sabuza Kikonza"

Tenten was in tears by the time he finished explaining. She had no idea that such a terrible thing had happened to the three of them and most of all that Sasuke went through everything by himself. Neji and Shikamaru had just left so it was just her and Sasuke left to talk.

"I don't know what to say…but I do know one thing for sure; what happened during those three years you were away doesn't define you Sasuke. I don't know what I would've done had I been in your shoes. I'm sorry you had to go through that all on your own"

"I think it's for the best that I did. If I dragged anyone else down with me the situation could've been worse."

"And what's going to happen to him now?"

"The Director is questioning him herself. A chakra using threat to the agency is no joke. We'll find out everything soon enough or not at all. They've kept chakra a secret from us for this long it wouldn't be surprising if the higher up's tried sweeping this mess under the rug as well" he said walking to the door

"You should get some rest, I'll see you later" he said before closing the door behind him

Tenten fell back against the pillows behind her a wave of relief washing over her. Could it really all be over, have we really won?

She asked herself in her head before gladly drifting off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10: A well-deserved break_

After a few days recovery Tenten was released from the infirmary and currently sitting with Neji in the Intelligence Division when they were summoned to Director Tsunade's office that morning. And it wasn't just Neji and Tenten but all eleven of them that had been working on the Lee's murder case.

As Tenten walked in after Neji she saw that all her friends were standing with their deployment squad members: Ino, Choji and Shikamaru-Squad 10 the Intel gathering squad and long range battle squad.

Shino, Hinata and Kiba-squad 8-the tracking squad

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura-squad 7-the close range combat squad

And finally Neji, Tenten and _Lee_ -squad 9- the close and mid-range battle squad

Once she saw that everyone had arrived she started speaking

"I know that many of you-some more than others-are anxious to know the details and information about this case and the future that awaits the criminal you caught." She closed her eyes for a moment before she carried on

"I'm afraid I can't provide you with those answers. Our benefactors have decided to classify this case as a special case-highly confidential"

The news warranted some remarks-which was to be expected. They were the ones that worked through this case and they weren't even allowed to know its conclusion-absurd. She raised her hand for silence.

"No one sympathises with you more than I do. This was an incredibly gruelling case that hit us all really hard because one of your own was taken down and I wish I could divulge everything to you to give you closure but I simply can't; my hands are tied I've been ordered to keep this quiet and I cannot go against the higher up's or they might just shut us down. I'm giving you all time off in fact it's not a request-you're all taking time off to put all this behind you" she stood up from her desk to look out the window

"You're dismissed"

And with that all the agents stood up and filed out of the room but Tenten stayed behind. At first she stood quietly and stared at Director Tsunade's back then she spoke up:

"Director Tsunade I'm ready to hand in my resignation"

"Your resignation, what for?"

"You told me earlier on that if I got involved in the case in any way again I would be dismissed and I did get involved so-

"Tenten clearly you misunderstood me, if I recall correctly I said-if I hear that you were involved I would dismiss you. No one reported to me that you were involved except for you bringing it up right now, so as far as I'm concerned I haven't _heard_ anything" she turned around and gave Tenten a knowing smile

Tenten smiled gratefully and gave the Director a small nod before leaving her office. She watched her leave before returning her gaze outside the window.

"Honestly…" she said shaking her head

"What is it?" a familiar smooth voice asks walking into the room

It was Jiraiya. He stood behind her looking at both of their reflections in the window. Tsunade stood-arms folded-slightly shorter than him but in no way inferior; she was strong, confident and had a timeless beauty as the morning light radiated off her flawless skin.

Jiraiya was taller and able to take in everything about her from his height. He too was powerful and accomplished, age making itself more noticeable in his facial features but he wore his age proudly-it showed he had a lot of wisdom and gained a lot in his life.

She rested her head against his chest and they both smiled when they caught each other's gaze in the reflection.

They were quite the pair.

"They're getting stronger and stronger each day. Easily one of the best groups I've seen in a long time" she said while comfortably leaning against him

"They definitely are strong but with strength comes challenges"

"You doubt them?"

"Oh no, the opposite in fact; I'm eager to see how strong they'll become as time passes. They might even surpass us Tsunade" he said as he put his arm around her shoulder

"I wouldn't mind that, the world will be in good hands if they do"

"And that's something worth celebrating, drinks tonight?"

"Sure" she kissed him on the cheek "but only if you're buying"

Xxx

Tenten was in the Weapons Division packing away some of the tools that were used during the investigation when someone walked in.

"Hey" Sasuke started

"Hey is everything okay?" she asked as she was a little surprised to see him

"I was actually just coming to see if you were alright, you know after the Directors final verdict. I know how personal this case was for you" he said picking up a box of kunai and placing it back on its shelf

"Yeah I'm fine I guess, that night when you and Neji tracked me to his hideout, I'd pretty much taken out ,my frustrations then so I'm fine with this final result" she paused her packing and looked down to the ground thinking for a moment then regaining her composure

"By the way you didn't finish telling me what made you come back to the agency, after you'd gotten your vengeance for Natsume what made you come back?" she turned to look at him leaning against the table

"Hm…well in a word, Sakura" he smiled fondly at the mention of her name

"Ah good old Sakura" Tenten smiled as well

"Yeah after everything that had happened she didn't give up on me. I don't know how but she tracked me down and gave me the biggest lecture. She told everything she'd gone through while I was gone-everything I put her through, and then she told me how worried she was about me; not how angry or disappointed she was but worried.

She gave me strength when I felt my weakest and showed me light in my darkest hour." He said more to himself than to Tenten

"That woman…I honestly don't know what she sees in me"

"Yeah I know right" she joked and then actually laughed when Sasuke shot her a glare

"I'm kidding but seriously though do me a favour and keep her close to you, she really cares a lot about you" she said walking to him

"Yeah I know, and I don't need dating advice especially from you" he said playfully

"Oh is that right?" she raised an eyebrow with an amused smile "But now that we're both in relationships you're going to have to stop your shameless flirting with me"

"Shameless you say?" his playful smile turned to a full on arrogant smirk

"Absolutely"

"And don't forget that you responded to my 'shameless' flirting" he took a step closer

"That's not the point" she said while trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible "Now you can save all that for Sakura"

She explained while walking out the door with Sasuke following closely behind her.

Later in the day all the agents were assembled in the parking area-the guys-clad in stylish shades- standing by their respective cars waiting to depart.

Shikamaru sitting in the driver's seat waiting for Ino to pile all her luggage into the boot of his grey BMW. Neji stood leaning against his black Audi apparently lost in thought.

"Hey what's with the serious face? We're going on vacation-a forced vacation-but a vacation nonetheless" she spoke while looking at her reflection in his shades

"Nothing just thinking I guess" he focused his attention on her "So we all decided to go down to the coast for vacation huh?" he put his arms around her waist

"What you don't want to see me in a bikini?" she smirked and wrapped her arms around his neck

"Oh believe me Tenten when that time comes I won't take my eyes off you" he pulled her in for a kiss which she gladly accepted

"It's about time you two" Naruto yelled from his orange and black Chevrolet with Hinata in the front seat

"I could say the same thing to you Naruto" she yelled back

"Hey are we leaving anytime soon?" Kiba impatiently called from his black Nisan with Choji and Shino in the car with him

"Yeah you wouldn't want to be left behind now would you?" Sasuke rolled up next to Neji's car in his black Ferrari. He lowered his sunglasses so he could look Tenten directly in the eyes with a smirk on his face

"Even your car is shameless, just shamelessly showing off" she spotted Sakura in the passenger's seat "Your boyfriend is one of a kind Sakura"

"Can't argue with that Tenten" Sakura chuckled

"Remember what I said about responding?" his smirk grew wider as he pushed his shades back up

"Alright alright let's go, the beach isn't going to enjoy itself" she said with finality and everyone climbed into their respective vehicles if they weren't already inside.

And within a few minutes they were off-the five cars following each other with Shikamaru's car in the front. They were agents together yes but they were also very close friends and they were strong-though they had lost one of their own, as long as they had each other then everything would be alright.

Though the dynamics of the teams had changed since he'd gone that would never change the fact that Lee was still a part of their big family and a friend for life. As they journeyed Tenten looked at the scenery from her window and thought about Lee.

 _Although the entire story will remain a mystery Lee, I know you're still with us and you'll always be a member of our squad._ She looked to her side to see Neji fully concentrating on the road-she smiled at him.

 _And it looks like you were right about me and Neji ending up together after all…_


End file.
